Team 8' RetroVersal
by Painsake
Summary: This is an AU of S'tarKan's Team 8. Viridian has given me permission to create a reversal. It starts out at ch20 with ch19 as a transition. If you have not read Team 8, then I suggest you do so, before reading this Naruto fanfic. Thank You, & enjoy.
1. A Step Aside for the Cause

**A Step Aside for the Cause.**

It was a very odd procession that slowly walked back to Konoha. The Sand team was battered and bruised. Naruto had clones carrying Kankuro's puppet as well as Temari's fan. As reluctant as they were to give up their weapons, they relented when Gaara spoke.

The Leaf shinobi were in better shape than their captives, but most of them had used up a great deal of chakra. Even Nara Shikamaru's slouch seemed more tired than usual.

Of the group, Uzumaki Naruto was the least exhausted, but even he was feeling a little drained. The seal containing his prisoner had given him a degree of unnatural stamina that most shinobi couldn't even contemplate without the aid of a lot of sake. He'd literally lost count of the number of times he'd used Kage Bunshin no Jutsu that day, the latest to form a cordon around both teams as they made their way back to Konoha.

Despite all the extra eyes, Naruto was still looking around cautiously. His teammates claimed they were all right, but they looked pretty wasted to him. All but Hinata had fought in the tournament earlier that day as well, and the glimpses he'd gotten of the Hyuuga girl's fight with Temari made him wince in recollection. Those two had gone after each other with a ferocity that shocked him just a little.

Naruto sort of understood Temari's attitude. She'd been worried about her brother. But as he sifted through the memories from his clones, he remembered Hinata practically _snarling_ at Temari that she wouldn't let her harm _**her**_ _Naruto-kun._ Just thinking about that gave Naruto a very odd feeling.

Maybe some of his precious people considered him equally precious?

Even considering the possibility made Naruto's heart pound in his chest. But he had more immediate concerns at the moment. Gaara shuffled along like the rest, and just as silent. But every so often, he would glance at Naruto out of the corner of his eye. Every time he did this, Naruto expected him to say something, but he never did. Finally, Naruto turned his head so he caught Gaara looking right in his face. The red-haired boy actually jerked back a little. Naruto could see the others flinch in response.

"Is there something you'd like to ask me?" Naruto asked in what he privately called his "Kurenai voice". He hoped it sounded as patient as she was.

"How do you…" Gaara began, but his voice trailed off. "You have control of your demon. How did you do this?"

Naruto winced as Shikamaru let out a startled cough. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shino grasp the shadow-user's elbow, his head leaning toward Shikamaru's ear. Naruto sighed. Pretty soon his prisoner would become the worst kept secret in Konoha. "I don't," Naruto said in a slightly irritated voice. "My seal may be a little different from yours, since I don't have any kind of automatic protection, but the only time it can try to influence me is when I am pretty mad."

Gaara nodded slowly, taking this in. "Yet you used its chakra several times today. I could feel it, especially when you escaped Shukaku's sand."

Naruto nodded. "We sort of have a deal. It knows that if I die, it dies too. I only ask when I really need it for something, and it knows that if it refuses, it will probably die. It really doesn't want to die."

Gaara's eyes widened a little. "Then, I am in the same situation." He nodded slowly and resumed walking. After a moment, everyone staring at the jinchuuriki blinked and began walking as well.

As they walked, Naruto noticed Temari still held her right arm at a funny angle, moving it tentatively. Even if she'd kept her fan, he doubted she could have even carried it this far. He was hardly surprised, given how many times he'd been nailed by a Jyuuken strike. Shoulder tenketsu really sucked, because a hit to any of them tended to make the whole joint lock up. But Naruto was surprised when Hinata sidled up to the older blond girl and spoke with her in little more than a whisper. A moment later, she handed the Suna girl a small jar she'd taken from her pocket. Temari stared after the Hyuuga girl as she resumed her place in their formation, periodically activating her Byakugan to check for enemies.

Privately, Naruto was glad she hadn't changed too much.

It took them a little while to reach the gates of Konoha. They were halfway there when Naruto remembered the chakra-drained Sound-nins they'd left back in the forest. Fortunately, they weren't that far away, and he dispatched a platoon of clones to collect them. He was still a little annoyed with himself for not remembering earlier.

As he finished, Shikamaru fell into step with him. Naruto steeled himself for what was likely to happen next.

"Shino explained," the slouching genin said, staring up at the clouds overhead.

Naruto nodded.

"I think I understand how you've been slinging shadow clones around like cheap kunai. I asked Asuma about that technique and he said he wouldn't teach me until I had jonin-level chakra reserves, or else it might kill me." He sighed. "I suppose you might just be too stupid to know when you're supposed to collapse, but that's not why, is it?"

Naruto shook his head. Shikamaru was one of the few classmates he'd gotten along somewhat okay with, but now he sounded irritated.

"I suppose having a demon sealed inside you would boost your chakra a lot," Shikamaru continued. "It's annoying that I didn't figure it out sooner. I had all the pieces in front of me, too. Damn Aburame…" his voice trailed off and he shot a glare over at Shino… who seemed oblivious.

Naruto scowled. Hating _him_ was okay, but Shino hadn't done anything but be smart.

"Anyway," Shikamaru continued, turning back to Naruto, "you're annoying as hell at times, but hating you for something like that is stupid _and_ troublesome."

With that, the Nara boy slowed his pace a little, meandering toward the back of the group again, and leaving Naruto to continue beside the silent Gaara.

OoOoO

As they approached the village, it was clear that the attack was over. The late afternoon air was oddly quiet without the sounds of distant explosions.

Their reception at the gates of Konoha had been a little hostile. Naruto supposed he couldn't blame them for being jumpy, but he didn't think anyone in Konoha would fail to recognize him, or fail to see Hinata's eyes. Then, as soon as the older chuunin acknowledged their forehead protectors were real, they demanded that they turn over their prisoners. Naruto clenched his fists as his temper began to fray. Maybe he'd been overexposed to Jiraiya, but he especially didn't like the way the younger guard was eyeing Temari.

"You two are really brave," Shikamaru announced with a yawn as he stretched. He grimaced as something in his neck made an audible pop. "I wouldn't have the guts to countermand a jonin's orders. I'm sure their sensei will be impressed by your initiative… right before she busts you back to genin."

After a whispered consultation, the gatekeepers decided to let them send one of their number ahead to fetch their sensei. However, they would be responsible if their prisoners tried to escape.

At that, Gaara looked up. "We have surrendered," he said in a flat, emotionless tone that still managed to sound annoyed.

At first, Hinata seemed like the logical person to find Kurenai-sensei as quickly as possible… until Shino cleared his throat.

Naruto stared at his teammate. "You tagged _Sensei_?" he demanded, incredulous.

"I tag everyone," Shino answered, adjusting his sunglasses. "Therefore, I already have a general idea of which direction to go."

"Shino would be faster," Hinata agreed.

As their teammate slipped through the gates, Kankuro coughed. "Tagged?" he asked. "As in, with _bugs_?"

"Yeah, that's how we tracked you down," Naruto said absently. Then he snapped his mouth shut. Even if they were prisoners and that was fairly common knowledge about the Aburame, he needed to watch what he said.

Temari gave a whole-body shudder that made Naruto quickly look away. "I'd like to slap Father in the face for even _thinking_ about attacking this place." She looked up just in time to catch Shikamaru staring. "What are you looking at?" she demanded.

"A prisoner I'm supposed to guard," Shikamaru said, just a little defensively, Naruto thought.

"That doesn't give you the right to ogle me," she snapped.

"If you'd rather take your chances with those two…" Shikamaru offered, nodding off to the side toward the chuunin manning the gate.

Temari tried to cross her arms and look away, but one of them still wouldn't move right.

"I – I think we should just wait for Sensei," Hinata offered.

"You better listen to her," Temari said in a spiteful tone. "She kicked my ass, she'd take you down in a heartbeat, pineapple-hair."

"Temari," Gaara said, and she immediately subsided, looking away. After a moment, she pulled Hinata's ointment from her sash and used her left hand to work some into her right shoulder under her uniform.

Kankuro edged toward where Naruto and Gaara were standing. "She gets like that when she's scared or upset. We're not going to violate our parole."

"Parole?" Naruto asked.

Kankuro peered at him, maybe wondering if Naruto was making fun of him. "Gaara surrendered to you. If we tried to escape now, we'd be violating his word and he'd probably have to kill or recapture us to regain his honor. Don't you do this in Fire country?"

Naruto shook his head. "Not that I've heard of. Maybe it's because you're the Kazekage's kids, so you're like royalty?"

Kankuro made a disgusted sound. "Hardly. The Daimyo of Wind Country hates the Kazekage. He's tried to ruin our village practically since his coronation."

Naruto was about to ask more about this when there was a commotion at the entrance. Shino and Kurenai came through the gate with a dozen ANBU, but following right on her heels was an old man with one arm, swathed in bandages, who was accompanied by unfamiliar men who looked like shinobi.

"I understand your concerns, Danzo-sama, but my team performed the capture, and they will be turned over to Ibiki to be _held_ until the Hokage can make a decision." Kurenai spoke as she walked, but the clipped tones warned Naruto that she was about as angry as he'd ever seen her.

"The Hokage is still in the hospital, and it is questionable whether he will survive," the bandaged man said, and Naruto's heart seemed to freeze in his chest. "We _must_ determine how deep this plot goes, and we must have this information immediately, no matter what steps must be taken."

_Hokage… hospital… questionable whether he will survive. _The words seemed to echo in Naruto's suddenly empty mind. He took half a step forward and his mind was no longer empty. It was filled with red flames. It was only as the red glare seemed to settle across his eyes and he saw Sabaku no Gaara flinch away that Naruto realized what was happening. He continued walking forward, forcing down the rage, rejecting the demon's gift of chakra, ignoring the chuunin and even a few of the ANBU as they stopped to stare at him. _Duty. Do your duty._ He reminded himself. _Don't embarrass Sensei. Don't embarrass your team. _

His voice was almost normal as he stopped several paces in front of the procession. "Uzumaki Naruto, reporting for duty, Sensei. We have apprehended the Suna team, who surrendered to us. We also neutralized a team of Sound shinobi that tried to intercept us. I have clones bringing them to this gate for processing."

"Very good, Naruto," Kurenai's replied. She turned to the bandaged man. "I think that presents us with a compromise that won't violate orders. Danzo-sama, your men can process the Sound-nin-team while we secure the Kazekage's children. We don't want to risk triggering a diplomatic incident before we have all the facts, do we?"

Danzo gave her a long, measuring look. "I see that Sarutobi's subordinates are just as wedded to his vision of the world. Very well, I will abide by his authority while he still lives. But keep in mind that we have reports that one of his charity cases cost him his arm. Be careful you don't earn yourself a similar fate from your pet. Jonin of your skills are hard to come by."

Kurenai inclined her head politely, then gestured for her team to follow her. Naruto's clones picked up the fan and the puppet while the Suna genin shuffled over.

Once they were through the gate, Naruto noticed the signs of battle only hours past. There were scorch marks on walls, and the odd crater in the street. The memories of the clones that he'd left behind to help told him that no quarter of Konoha had been spared at least some damage. He decided to let his remaining clones keep an eye out while he asked the question burning in his mind. "Sensei," he whispered, "what happened to Hokage-sama?"

Kurenai sighed. "He was attacked by the Kazekage, who turned out to be Orochimaru in disguise. They were sealed behind a barrier no one could get through, except for one of the proctors. Both the Hokage and Orochimaru lost their right arms, and Orochimaru was forced to flee. Most of the fighting in Konoha stopped after that. There are indications that the Sand shinobi were deceived by Orochimaru."

"Our father is dead," Gaara said in a flat voice, making Naruto jump. His hearing was much better than Naruto had thought possible. His words also made his siblings jump, turning to him with wide eyes. "He would not have allowed himself to be replaced in such a manner if he was still alive. If Konoha was to be humbled, he would want to be there when it happened."

Both Kankuro and Temari looked shocked, but neither one disagreed.

"That is what most of the Suna jonin said when they surrendered after the barrier went down," Kurenai said. "But it will take some time to sort things out and let the Hokage come to a decision."

"So… he's going to be okay?" Naruto asked, hating the hopeful, wheedling tone in his voice.

"His arm was frozen to prevent poison from spreading through his body," Kurenai said, "but the medics have every confidence that he will fully recover."

Naruto let out a sigh of relief. Despite the signs of damage to his home, he knew everything would be all right.

OoOoO

When they arrived at the detention center, Naruto had to bite back a laugh. The shinobi who'd conducted the written exam was also in charge of the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Force.

Figures.

A glance to the side showed a sour grimace on Shikamaru's face as well. Shino's expression, if any, was hidden behind that damn collar, and Hinata-chan was far too polite to say something. Unless she got mad, of course.

What was more interesting were the looks Ibiki exchanged with Kurenai-sensei. They seemed to know each other, though Naruto was having trouble guessing why Kurenai looked so amused and Ibiki looked like he'd drunk bad milk.

"I suppose I should have guessed your troublemakers would be out raising hell, Yuuhi," Ibiki growled.

Then Naruto remembered his brash words at the end of the written exam and swallowed. Oh well, at least Sensei didn't look angry. That had to count for something, right?

"They acquired some very high profile prisoners, Ibiki-san," Kurenai said with a slight smile. Then her face turned serious. "The Hokage will want them handled very carefully. Danzo-sama has already expressed an interest in them."

Ibiki frowned, pulling tight the cloth he wore tied across his ruined scalp. Naruto hoped it didn't pop loose – seeing that once was enough. "Who the hell did they bag?"

"I am Sabaku no Gaara," Gaara said tonelessly, accompanying his words with a formal bow. "I have given parole, along with my sister and brother," he added in that affectless voice that still gave Naruto chills. He hoped Gaara didn't forget what they'd talked about in the forest.

Ibiki only blinked once. "That explains a lot. I have a place we can keep them until the Hokage can make a decision."

"Will they be allowed visitors?" Naruto blurted out before he completely thought it through.

"Not normally," Ibiki replied, his eyes narrowing as he turned toward Naruto. "Why do you ask?"

"Err, it might be important," Naruto replied evasively. "For reasons I cannot discuss. I also think Jiraiya should see him as well." Naruto floundered for a moment. "For safety reasons," he added lamely.

Ibiki turned to Kurenai, but Naruto's sensei was staring at him curiously. "Does this have something to do with the Hokage's special law?" she asked.

Naruto nodded quickly.

"How urgent is it that Jiraiya come here?" she asked.

"Very urgent," Naruto replied. "Something might need to be fixed, and it might be a good idea for me to check on it until he's had a look."

Kurenai's eyes flicked over the prisoners, and then she turned to Ibiki and nodded. He raised an eyebrow, but nodded back. Naruto thought it was interesting that the special jonin was evidently willing to accept Kurenai's assessment over his own opinions. "All right," he finally said. "I can arrange visiting hours once a day. Noon?"

Naruto nodded gratefully, and then turned to Gaara who had witnessed the whole conversation silently. "I'll bring you guys' lunch or something."

Temari and Kankuro just looked confused. Very, very confused.

OoOoO

"This convenes an emergency session of the village council for Konohagakure," Homaru announced in a dry, but steady voice.

"Is this even proper?" a voice asked uncertainly. "I mean, we barely have a quorum here."

Hyuuga Hiashi quickly rose to his feet, directing a glare at the questioner. The silk merchant flinched visibly. Though prosperous, a good portion of his income flowed from Hyuuga coffers and he knew it. "The treacherous attack on our village requires swift action if we are to properly discharge our responsibilities to Konoha," he said in a chilly voice – clearly daring anyone there to disagree.

"That is correct, Hiashi-sama," echoed Maniki Gowabara, the head of the ancient Moneychangers Guild. In modern times, they controlled all of the village's banks, including the large cash reserves that served as a foundation for Konoha's economy, as well as guaranteeing the village's credit.

"What is our first order of business then?" asked Yoshikawa Toshiro. He owned a large chain of retail shops scattered throughout Konoha. Directly and indirectly, his businesses supplied most of the equipment used by ANBU and the other shinobi.

"The first is to declare the Chuunin Examination cancelled," rasped Danzo. "I've always counseled that inviting foreign shinobi into the heart of our village was a mistake, despite what _some _may claim. We no longer have time to deal with this misguided policy when Konoha itself is in danger."

"I must disagree," Announced the representative of the Aburame clan. "I saw a lot of talent out there and I can name a few genins that should be raised with or without the results of the test. Like the Nara boy."

His son had stopped by on his way to retrieve his sensei and had been very insistent that he make it to the meeting. Now, he could tell why. This was most likely related to the slanders Shino had brought to light, but bringing up Naruto might have had the opposite effect.

"He will have the chance to retake the exam in six months-".

"Yes, but as I said, his being raised has nothing to do with the actual exam," The Aburame interrupted Danzo. "He was the one who first discovered the attack on Kanoha, and before anyone else at that. Besides, he is only the first out of three I think may have earned the rank of chuunin."

Other members of the council murmured and shifted in their seats. Most had been in agreement with the Aburame.

Danzo was clearly getting irritated by this. "Yes, well, the Sandaime is no longer able to make such decisions, so it is in the best interest of the village if such matters are set aside for the moment."

"I'm sure you are willing to do whatever it takes, Danzo," a gravelly voice said from the entrance to the council chamber. "Fortunately, such steps will not be necessary."

The bandaged face of the Root leader showed almost no reaction as he turned, but the minute widening of his visible eye spoke volumes to those that knew him. "There were reports that you were on your deathbed," the one-armed man said. His tone implied he wasn't too thrilled to find them to be false.

"Reports of my death were exaggerated," the Sandaime said as he slowly walked into the chamber. "The medics were able to save my life, if not my arm." He was trailed by a blank-faced medic-nin and one of the chuunin proctors from the exam. Those two were flanked by a small group of chuunin, including the pair that normally guarded the doors to his office.

"I see," Hiashi said coolly. "Then I must congratulate you on your survival. However, it is clear that you are no longer capable of fulfilling some of the more strenuous duties required by your office."

The silence that followed that statement was absolute. Hyuuga Hiashi wasn't _quite_ challenging the Hokage – but only by the barest of margins. Several of the council members shivered slightly. The room seemed to have grown quite chilly in the last few moments.

"I can manage, but thank you for the concern." the Sandaime said, breaking the silence. He smiled slightly. "However, in the unlikely case that I find I can't fulfill my duties, I will be making arrangements to have my chosen successor brought here soon. In the meantime, I will of course receive aid for any of my shortcomings from someone I think is _very_ capable." Sarutobi's eyes seemed to ask for challenge. "Now, I know all of you must be worried about your homes and families. I appreciate your dedication in making sure Konoha isn't left leaderless in the face of this crisis, but as I am no longer incapacitated, it is no longer necessary for you to exercise your emergency powers."

It wasn't _quite_ a dismissal, but the Hokage's tone was clear.

"In that case, we will adjourn," Hiashi said. The stony face he wore as he stepped away from the podium was only marginally short of offensive.

Sarutobi's eyes lingered on each of the council members as they left. Many of them refused to meet his eyes, looking down as they quickened their steps. Danzo was the last to leave, and he met the Hokage's gaze squarely.

"This isn't over," Danzo said. His eyes lingered on the empty sleeve of the Hokage's robes.

"No, it isn't," Sarutobi agreed.

After the Root leader shuffled out and the door closed, the Hokage suddenly sagged, and might have fallen if Haku hadn't appeared at his remaining elbow to steady him.

"Hokage-sama, I told you this was ill-advised," the dark-haired medic-nin fretted as he ran a glowing hand across the chest of the old man's robes of office. "You have not fully recovered from your hypothermia." The last he said with a sympathetic glance toward the chuunin, who nonetheless winced.

Sarutobi coughed once before he sat down in one of the recently vacated chairs.  
"I agree, but it was still necessary. If I had stayed under your care at the hospital, there is no telling what mischief they would have gotten up to." He sighed. "And, if it wasn't for Aburame Shibi, we wouldn't have gotten here in time to stop their first decree."

He had known that the first thing the council would do was to cancel the exam results. Sarutobi had hurt the boy enough already. If he had let them do that, he doubted even Naruto could forgive him.

"Surely canceling the examination was justified under the circumstances, Hokage-sama," one of the chuunin guards exclaimed.

"Perhaps," Sarutobi said, "but I think I saw enough in the time I did have to make some recommendations to the proctors." He sighed. He would make more than just recommendations. Although, there would _still _be some questions as to the validity of the tests, since some participants were clearly not there for honest competition. "Nothing to be done about it now." This was not a fight he could afford, not with everything else happening.

His lips pressed together in a thin line as he levered himself to his feet. Lingering here too long would reveal too much to his enemies. For a brief moment, he wished Konoha was more like other villages, where a Kage's word was absolute and he could overturn even the most lawful exercise of power by the council when it suited him. He shook his head. That wasn't what he and the others had fought so long for.

OoOoO

In the aftermath of the attack, the genin teams were mobilized en masse to assist with the cleanup. It felt very strange to Naruto to not be on the intensive training schedule he'd followed prior to the finals of the Chuunin Exam. Instead, Kurenai-sensei met them first thing in the morning with a long list of assigned tasks. Normal mission pay was reduced in light of the crisis, but no one even thought of complaining.

Team Eight spent most of their days on street repairs, patching up battle-damaged walls, and doing their best to eradicate any signs of the invasion. The work seemed to be endless, but Naruto found that he didn't really mind. It felt good to have something concrete he could do to make things better. And having over 100 clones walking lumber for building repair at the same time did give him plenty of exercise.

With their operation, they could finish the repair on an entire building in only one day. Just like the first mission in which they had applied his clones to work, Hinata was over-seeing, and the clones doing the hard work. Naruto would have several clones hold the beams up and one clone for each nail. Kurenai-sensei was not so thrilled. She even looked sick when she asked one of his clones why they were just climbing on top of another instead of getting a latter. The baka's answer was that he didn't bother to use a hammer either. Instead, his clones just plugged the nails in with one pound of his palm.

He was a little disappointed when he received word of the examination results being postponed, but in light of everything that happened, he couldn't really complain. He was only relieved that they hadn't been canceled. Of course, Konoha recovering from the invasion had to have the highest priority. Kurenai-sensei emphasized that when she told them the news and Naruto supposed that only made sense.

At any rate, even if he wanted to whine, any urges to do so would have fled the instant he saw the Old Man at the Hokage's tower after their last day of repair work.

They had finished early that day, having completed more missions than Kurenai-sensei had expected. Naruto had been feeling restless with the lack of training, and their tasks that day were mainly ones that benefited from throwing dozens of Kage Bunshin at them. Filling in fifteen potholes at once had really sped things up.

Seeing the Hokage with those deep lines etched on his face and an empty sleeve really drove it home for Naruto. He tried to speak, but no words would come out.

OoOoO

The Sandaime looked up wearily from his paperwork. He smiled a little when he saw Team Eight, but it was a weary expression that sat heavily on his face. The only good he could do them was to make sure the boy got his rightful promotion. There was little doubt in his mind that Uzumaki Naruto was ready for chuunin rank. The skills he'd displayed in the arena showed a remarkable degree of growth. Part of him was annoyed that he'd never pressed Yuuhi Kurenai to join the Ninja Academy as a chuunin, but part of him was equally happy that she'd been available when Naruto really needed a skilled mentor.

The only mark against the boy was the conclusion of his first match, and given the lethal techniques the Hyuuga boy had attempted, he could hardly hold that against him. He knew full well why the match had been so vicious, but he could hardly meddle in clan affairs and maintain his neutrality as the Hokage for the entire village. That was why he was equally glad to see young Hyuuga Hinata returned to semi-active status for D-rank missions. If her sensei felt she needed to supervise the last stages of her physical therapy, who was he to disagree?

Naruto froze in place for a long moment in the doorway to his office, and the Hokage steeled himself for bitter recriminations. Then the doorway was empty and the boy was standing beside his desk. Gods, but he'd gotten fast. Haku's fist was drawn back with senbon glittering between the fingers before he saw the Hokage's hand sign to stand down. Naruto's arms were wrapped around his ribs in a hug that made them creak.

The Sandaime remembered consoling a young Maito Gai after his sensei had been killed on a mission. The boy's strength was at least comparable, and he quickly patted Naruto on the shoulder to console him. Overwhelming emotion could make a taijutsu powerhouse forget their own strength, and the last thing he needed now was broken ribs.

Kurenai's reports regarding how badly he was treated by certain villagers had left a worm of guilt gnawing at the pit of his stomach. His actions, or rather _inactions_, had given the boy more than enough reason to hate him by now. but, he had to face up to the consequences. That was one of the first lessons he'd learned from his predecessors.

Still, when the boy raised his tear-streaked face, the Hokage felt better… lighter… than he had in weeks. Naruto clearly forgave him his failures. Perhaps he could come to forgive himself.

He looked over at Jiraiya, who was lounging next to the door. He hoped he was doing the right thing.

OoOoO

Naruto straightened up and sniffed, a little embarrassed by his impulsive outburst. But seeing the Old Man looking so… old… just tore through him like a kunai. He was even missing an arm like everyone said, and he was still here doing Hokage things, like paperwork and mission briefings.

Kurenai-sensei had talked to him a few times about what being the Hokage really meant. She wasn't so much trying to talk him out of it, he realized after a while, but she wanted him to realize exactly what he was letting himself in for. But nothing underlined her lessons quite so well as seeing the old man sitting at his desk, doing paperwork a little awkwardly with his left hand.

The Old Man gave Naruto a kindly smile as he scuttled back to his team, and some of the deeper creases in his face seemed to lighten. He should smile more often, Naruto decided. As he got back in line, avoiding Kurenai-sensei's eyes, he noticed a new chuunin standing in the back corner of the room. She was pretty, with long, dark hair, and she looked vaguely familiar to Naruto as she tucked something into her sleeve. Then he remembered the proctor at the written exam that had escorted him to the bathroom. He hoped she wasn't mad about his little trick. He shrugged. She shouldn't have followed him into the bathroom in the first place.

Naruto was also a little surprised to see the Old Pervert leaning against the wall next to the door. He still gave the man a silent, but respectful, nod. 'Literature' aside, Naruto admitted his lecherous ninjutsu teacher had shown his serious side during the invasion. According to rumor, he'd killed hundreds of Sound and Sand troops that were attacking the walls. Naruto overheard a bandaged chuunin claim that the survivors would never be able to look at a toad without screaming in terror. Naruto thought he might have been exaggerating, but then again, he never wanted to get on the wrong side of Gamabunta-sama, so maybe it was true.

Jiraiya had also done Naruto a personal favor and looked at Gaara's seal. It actually hadn't taken that much persuasion, once Naruto explained that he didn't think the seal was functioning correctly. The only things the Toad Hermit took as seriously as chasing women were jutsu and sealing techniques. The next day, when he and some clones were bringing ramen to the holding cells, he saw Gaara sleeping so deeply that he could not be roused. His siblings were petrified, convinced he'd been poisoned or that Shukaku was busy consuming Gaara's soul. Naruto finally had to tell them, in low tones, that the crazy old man who'd examined Gaara had taught the one who made Naruto's own seal.

The day after, Gaara was awake, but drowsy. He seemed very… odd. Quiet and remote, but every so often he'd focus his attention so fiercely on what someone was saying that it was like a physical force. He did this most often with Naruto when he was there – much to the relief of his siblings. When Naruto got up to leave, Gaara asked him to thank Jiraiya-sama. Naruto quietly promised to do so, ignoring how shocked Temari was at her brother's humble tone.

Jiraiya had been unusually pensive when Naruto's clone tracked him down to pass on the message. "Remember this when someone asks you why you serve Konoha," was all the old pervert would say before dispelling the clone.

And a week later, the Suna team seem to be used to Gaara sleeping. Temari even laughed as she told him how Gaara apparently sucked his thumb, though Kankuro was obviously afraid that her comment might get them hurt.

OoOoO

Kurenai thought she'd broken the news about the Hokage's condition as gently as she could, given the circumstances. But Naruto's reaction when they entered the office only showed that it hadn't fully sunk in yet. But after seeing the Hokage's reaction, she couldn't bring herself to chastise her student for his lapse in decorum. She reminded herself that the two of them had a relationship that far predated her taking Naruto on as a student. Something seemed to pass between the two of them, and some of the jagged tension seemed to drain out of her Hokage. Maybe the Sandaime had really needed that hug.

And maybe Uzumaki Naruto was just a little more perceptive than she gave him credit for.

"We have completed our assigned tasks, Hokage-sama," she said with a hint of pride. Her genin had worked especially hard that day, and they deserved to know that she was proud of them. Sarutobi suspected they'd been using large numbers of Naruto's clones as brute force labor. Team Eight was completing more tasks per day than any other five genin or chuunin formations in Konoha, something he'd been pleased to point out to a number of people who had grumbled about their task assignments.

"Good, good," the Hokage said, fumbling with his pipe. He sighed, tapped out the ashes, and set it down. "I was about to send a runner out to find you, so this is fortuitous." He leaned back in his chair a little. "I've asked Jiraiya to assist in the return of the Kazekage's children, and he believes that as your team was the one to apprehend them, it would be useful if certain members of Team 8 tagged along."

"Besides, I have a new technique to show you, boy," Jiraiya added casually. The Hokage leaned back in his chair and smiled, a trifle grimly. Sarutobi had arranged this with Jiraiya in order to get Naruto out of the village when he announced the results of the exam. He knew how many would react and didn't want Naruto to have to hear any of it, especially after saving so many of the villagers. It wouldn't do right to let him hear any of the ungrateful reactions that were sure to come.

Naruto brightened a little with excitement, but subsided almost as quickly, shooting troubled glances at his teammates. The Sandaime nodded to himself. It spoke volumes about the boy's character that he immediately thought of his teammates, but future missions wouldn't always be with the same comrades every time.

"Hokage-sama?" Kurenai injected inquisitively. "This sounds like at least a B-class mission?" Hinata's eyes drifted to the floor.

"Yes, I understand that Hyuuga Hinata has not been cleared for any missions above D-class." Then the Hokage glanced down at the formal scroll sitting on the corner of his desk. He'd left it there as a reminder of a less pleasant matter. With the fallout from the examination and Hyuuga Neji, he could only push Hiashi so far on this matter. "That item _has_ come up. _Is_ she recovered sufficiently to return to full active status? I have had an inquiry from her family."

Kurenai stiffened a little. She knew the Hokage had seen through her little subterfuge, but she thought he'd quietly approved of keeping Hinata away from her father a little longer. Undoing years of abuse was impossible in such a short time, but just staying in a supportive environment was having positive effects on her emotional equilibrium. And from the way her student's shoulders had drawn in, the prospect of returning to her clan was not a welcome one. But she could not lie to her Hokage. "She is… mostly recovered, Hokage-sama."

"I see," the Hokage said quietly. "If she has finished with her therapy regimen, then she should probably return to her home." He replied. Some of the creases on his face seemed to deepen again.

Naruto glanced at Hinata out of the corner of his eye, trying for once not to be completely obvious. His teammate did not say a word, but her paling face bore the pinched, closed-in expression she'd donned in the hospital when he'd persuaded her to tell him about the Hyuugas.

Naruto turned to look at Jiraiya. The old lecher's face bore an unusually grim expression. Something was up with this escort mission, but he wasn't about to tell him anything here. Naruto quickly weighed the pros and cons. If it was too dangerous, they'd veto what he was about to propose. But if he wasn't around, he couldn't really look after his friend. He had to at least try.

"Err, if team 8 is going on a mission then shouldn't Hinata come along too?" Naruto asked, swallowing when he noticed all the adults looking at him. "She can still use her Byakugan, and that alone would give us an advantage." he finished lamely.

The Hokage, Jiraiya, and Kurenai-sensei all exchanged glances, but Naruto had no idea what unspoken conversation was taking place.

"That's not a bad point, boy," Jiraiya grunted after a moment. "Even if it is an excuse to bring your-"

"I'm sorry, that just won't do," Kurenai disagreed sharply, cutting the old hermit off, much to Naruto's relief and disappointment. "_But_, if she still isn't able to go on such a mission, then I propose that she remain in my care until she _is_ back to full status."

The Sandaime nodded after a moment. "Duly noted. I will inform her father that she will be receiving round the clock training aside from her daily missions until she has recovered _in full_."

Naruto resisted the urge to cheer. Seeing Hinata's face out of the corner of his eye, watching it relax as a small smile formed on her lips, made it even harder. Then a questioning thought hit him. "Um, if she isn't going…. Then who…-"

"That is an excellent question," the Sandaime cut in. "_And_ it brings me to the next topic of this mission. This is Haku." The chuunin took a step forward. "_He_ will be accompanying you to the nation of sand."

OoOoO

Kurenai dismissed her team for the rest of the day. Shino would need a little time to prepare to leave in the morning. And it was obvious that he would spend as much time with his 'allies' as possible. Hinata, on the other hand, would be wanting to help Naruto with _his_ packing.

As soon as the genin filed out of the Hokage's office, she turned toward the two older men. "With your permission, Hokage-sama, I would like a few moments to brief Jiraiya-sama with respect to my genin."

The Sandaime's lips twitched minutely around his pipe, "In just a moment, Kurenai, I have a question to ask. While two of your pupils are gone, I am sure you will be able to find time to spare?" He asked in a mock beggar voice. "I believe that you are just the person I need to replace my arm."

Kurenai took a step back. She was shocked at what he seemed to be implying. "Are you asking me to assist you in the duties of the Hokage!?" She accused. "I… well," This was out of her league, but, it was true that she would have time to spare, and she couldn't refuse the Hokage. His asking only needed to be out of courtesy. "If you require aid then I am willing to accept the job."

"Good, good. Then for the time being, you will act as my advisor. You start tomorrow afternoon. That will allow you to see off your students and start Hyuuga Hinata on that recovery regiment. Now then, I believe you wanted to brief Jiraiya over your students."

0o0o0

Jiraiya had a ridiculous grin on his face as he followed her to an unused conference room. He spoke up as soon as the door closed behind them. "Well, I didn't think this would happen so quickly, seeing as how we really got off on the wrong foot, but I-"

"Jiraiya-sama," Kurenai replied crisply. "I know you cannot possibly be as large a fool as your public persona acts. Please do us both a favor and drop the act for the next ten minutes. Neither of us really has the time to waste on idle posturing." She had regained herself on the way to the room, and had her temper back in full.

Jiraiya blinked once, and then his eyes hardened. "Very well, Jonin. What did you wish to discuss?"

"Naruto. And your behavior towards him."

Jiraiya crossed his arms. "Go on," he said.

"Uzumaki Naruto has no primary male role model at this point in his life. The Hokage has behaved in a grandfatherly role in the past, but his duties make him too remote, and now that Naruto is a genin, the differences in rank are coming between them. Umino Iruka is a good man, but his contact with Naruto has lessened considerably since he left the Academy. Maito Gai…" She broke off and shuddered.

Jiraiya grimaced and nodded.

"Gai is a good example of hard work and discipline, but even Naruto is aware of his eccentricities and… social shortcomings. You, on the other hand, are a well-respected Shinobi with a legendary reputation. You are highly knowledgeable in ninjutsu, an aspect of shinobi training in which Naruto has the capacity to excel. You also aren't infected with the idiocy that made many in this village treat the boy as a pariah." Kurenai's voice trailed off.

"But?" Jiraiya prodded her, his voice flat.

Kurenai's voice was even as she continued, with no hint of anger leaking out. "But in many ways your behavior is even more deplorable than Gai's. Like it or not, that young man looks up to you, and will likely do so more as time passes and you continue to work together. He's had nothing but positive things to say about the things you've taught him, and that advanced doton jutsu probably saved his life. But I'm concerned about what he might learn from you _besides_ jutsu."

Jiraiya's scowl deepened, drawing his eyebrows together. "Don't you think you're overreacting?"

"No," Kurenai said softly, "I am not. There are things that might be acceptable for you that are not acceptable coming from Uzumaki Naruto."

"If you think polite behavior is going to make people stop hating him for the Kyuubi, you're a fool," Jiraiya scoffed.

Kurenai shook her head. "I'm not talking about acceptable for Naruto the Jinchuuriki, I'm talking about Naruto the Hokage."

Jiraiya stared at her. "You really believe his boasting about becoming Hokage?"

Kurenai shrugged, something she hadn't done in a long time. It was odd. When Jiraiya acted seriously, he reminded her of her old sensei. "At first, I wasn't sure. It was his overriding goal when he left the Academy, so I decided to take it seriously and phrase everything he needed to do to improve in terms of how it would advance him toward that goal. Even if he changed his mind later, he'd still be a better shinobi for it." She shook her head. "But he's worked at a pace that I find almost frightening. He's improved so much in such a short time, and now his goal doesn't seem so far-fetched. If you had any idea what a mess he was at the Academy…"

"I know exactly how bad he was," Jiraiya said with a growl. "The old man didn't take me too seriously when I said something was going on there."

Kurenai looked up, her eyes glinting. "How did you know?"

"I checked up on him, secretly, whenever I returned to Konoha to report to the Hokage," Jiraiya said. Then he added, "He is my godson, after all."

The Sannin winced a little at the spike of killing intent that tore through the room.

"You are his godfather," Kurenai said, taking a step toward him, "and you left him to be raised like this? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"He's alive," Jiraiya replied coolly. "He probably wouldn't be if I'd claimed him. I have too many enemies and so did his father." He spat to one side, knocking over a wastepaper basket. "I'm not happy about how things turned out, but it could have been a lot worse. I've also spent damn near every day of the last ten years working to protect my godson. Ask the Hokage about an organization called Akatsuki. You should be cleared for it, given your relationship to Naruto, and your new job. Oh, and while you're at it, ask him how many times he's talked me out of eliminating half the Council." With that, Jiraiya turned and angrily stalked toward the door.

"Wait!" Kurenai's voice stopped him as he was reaching toward the doorknob. "His father? Gods… The Fourth really _did_ have a son, didn't he?"

Jiraiya turned back toward her with a grimace. "Me and my big mouth," he sighed. "Congratulations," he growled, "you've stumbled across another S-class secret. If this gets out, half the hidden villages will be sending assassination teams within the week. But you won't have to worry about that, because I'll kill you myself."

"It won't get out because of me," Kurenai snapped back. "But if the resemblance gets any stronger, people will start to assume things like that Iwa border patrol."

Jiraiya shook his head. "I suppose you're right about that. All we can do is really just buy him as much time as we can before things come to a head."

"At the rate he's improving," Kurenai observed, "I think he's got a good chance."

"Maybe," Jiraiya grunted sourly.

"Which brings me back to my original point," Kurenai continued. "I don't think it's going to help Naruto as a Hokage if he has a reputation as a pervert. All right, I can understand in your case why it might make an acceptable cover, but for such a… why are you laughing?" she demanded.

Jiraiya was actually doubled over, holding his stomach. With a mighty effort, he stifled his laughter, save for an occasional chortle, and straightened up, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I'm sorry, but that's the funniest thing I've heard all day."

"I don't see what's so funny," Kurenai said.

"Every time I publish a new masterpiece of adult entertainment," he explained, his grin widening with every word, "I reserve the first thirty copies to be shipped back to old friends in Konoha. Number one is always personally signed, with a dedication to my old sensei."

Kurenai hung her head, pinching the bridge of her nose as she struggled to rid her mind of the image of Hokage-sama reading an orange book and giggling like Kakashi. She failed miserably. Being a genjutsu master required a vivid and detailed imagination. Times like this made her wonder why she hadn't become a seamstress like her mother wanted.

Kurenai sighed. She wondered if the break room had any coffee left. Maybe some aspirin. "All right, let me rephrase. I think it would be a liability for a Hokage to be _publicly_ known as a pervert. There are already stories going around about some strange sex-change jutsu he developed at the Academy, but I think those will just be treated as youthful pranks. Naruto's already going to face an uphill challenge getting most of Konoha to accept him. Do you want to make it even harder for him?"

Jiraiya sighed. "All right, you've made your point. I'll… keep a handle on my cover activities when he's around. All right?"

Kurenai nodded. "Thank you. The only other thing I wanted to discuss was his friends."

"Look, I _was_ willing to take the kunoichi so he won't feel too lonely. I don't see what the problem is."

Kurenai paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. "I'm going to bend on a few personal confidences here. This information is for your ears only, understood?"

Jiraiya nodded, rolling his eyes.

"Hyuuga Hinata is the oldest daughter of the clan head, but I doubt she will ever be confirmed as heir. She's been subjected to systematic emotional abuse for most of her life, punctuated by what seems to be plausibly-disguised episodes of physical abuse. I've considered removing her from active duty, but missions appear to be her only escape from an abusive environment. Confined to the Hyuuga compound, I'd give her less than a year before 'accidentally dying' – either by her own hand or someone else's."

Jiraiya's eyes hardened as she spoke.

"I'd also estimate a greater than even chance of Naruto, and possibly Shino, engaging in unauthorized retaliation were that to happen, no matter the consequences."

Jiraiya's eyes widened. "It's that serious?"

"It can be," Kurenai replied. "If you checked up on Naruto, then you know he's had no friends his own age up until now. Imagine how close he's become to his teammates – his first friends?"

Jiraiya closed his eyes for a moment, and Kurenai winced. The breakup of the Densetsu no Sannin was well known, but she hadn't intended to open old wounds. "To their credit," Kurenai continued after a moment, "his teammates appear to be just as loyal. Shino confronted his clan elders regarding slanderous rumors spread about Naruto, even threatening to leave the clan if what I heard was true."

Jiraiya's eyebrows went up at that.

"After his first kill, Naruto was actively contemplating suicide, due in part to some active sabotage performed by the Academy's psychological counselor," Kurenai tightened her jaw and continued, despite the rage that purpled Jiraiya's face. "Hinata got him to open up before he did anything drastic and convinced him that he wasn't a monster. And then she got me to talk to him as well. Don't worry, that counselor was remanded to Ibiki as soon as we returned to Konoha."

Jiraiya calmed himself with a visible effort. "She seems like a nice girl, if a bit quiet," he said after a moment.

"She loves Naruto unreservedly," Kurenai replied, "or at least to the extent that someone with her problems is capable of loving anyone. One of her happiest memories is of Naruto telling her she was his best friend."

"But he doesn't consider her as a girlfriend?" Jiraiya asked, both puzzled and mildly offended. "He isn't… you know, is he?"

Kurenai frowned. "Hinata, for a variety of reasons, is afflicted with crushing shyness. For that matter, Naruto has only now acquired his first friends. How would he ever have had a chance to learn what love is?" she asked sadly.

Jiraiya looked slightly ill. "The more I learn, the more I second guess the plan we put together to keep Naruto safely anonymous."

Kurenai peered at the Sannin. For an instant, she saw past the gruff exterior of the Toad Hermit and saw a middle-aged man grieving for lost opportunities. "I suppose hindsight is always twenty-twenty," she said after a moment. "But I can't argue with the fact that he is alive today. Your plan wasn't a complete failure."

Jiraiya nodded, slowly straightening back up. "I suppose it wasn't. And I get your point. I won't tease him about either of them. Much, anyway. If I completely stopped, Naruto would know something was up. He's a lot sharper than he lets on, isn't he?"

"Yes," Kurenai agreed with a smile. "He's surprised me more than once."

OoOoO

For once, Naruto was eating alone at Ichiraku's. Shino had excused himself as soon as they left the Hokage's office. The Aburame compound had suffered some serious damage during the attack, and several of the breeding colonies had been damaged when an incubator heating unit exploded. His clan didn't begrudge time spent on clean-up missions for Konoha, but he did feel obligated to help out as much as possible. Even with the mission tomorrow. Naruto offered to come along and lend some clones to help, but it seemed that the most time-intensive activity remaining involved sorting out the colonies that had been mixed together and making sure that they didn't accidentally interbreed. To Naruto's eyes, most kikai bugs looked alike, and he reluctantly agreed that he'd be pretty useless. Shino had, however, thanked him for the offer, and promised to let him know if they had any 'brute force' jobs left.

Hinata, on the other hand, had told him she would like to meet him later to help him prepare for the mission tomorrow. She seemed a little distressed at leaving Naruto to eat alone, but she said she wasn't really that hungry. Naruto also knew that she tended to be a little obsessive when it came to packing for an extended mission, worrying that he'd forget something he'd desperately need once he was gone. She was probably right on that though.

It was kind of odd for Naruto, knowing someone well enough that he could guess why she did something without even asking. He'd almost been that close to Iruka at the Academy, but he hadn't really understood him until that night in the forest with Mizuki. It was kind of… comforting… he supposed, to know someone that well. Maybe it wasn't the predictability so much as what it symbolized – a really close friendship.

And it wasn't so bad having a quiet meal by himself. Ichiraku's was completely untouched during the invasion. It seemed that some of his stray clones ended up congregating on that particular street after their primary objectives were accomplished. Naruto didn't think it was a coincidence of any sort, but he wasn't about to admit it to anyone who asked. Still, he was glad that Teuchi's stand hadn't been damaged at all, and the old man responded to his good fortune by offering half-price ramen to anyone working on village repairs.

Nonetheless, he'd been a little surprised by the extra-warm greeting he received the first time Team Eight visited after the exam. It hadn't even occurred to him that people would bet on the examination matches, but it warmed his heart to know that Teuchi and Ayame believed in him enough to bet their savings on him.

The fact that Iruka-sensei had organized the betting pool, and evidently become quite rich from it, completely scandalized the genin. What happened to the straight-laced Academy teacher that lectured him about proper behavior? Imitating a foreigner to skin the rich bastards of Konoha? Naruto reminded himself to have a few words with his old sensei the next time he saw him.

Still, things were looking good as he started on his fourth bowl of miso ramen. He had an important mission tomorrow. Hinata wouldn't have to deal with her crappy family for a few more days. Ero-Sennin had even promised to teach him a cool new jutsu. And to be honest, he was getting a little bored with D-rank repair missions, no matter how necessary they might be.

Naruto was just drinking down the broth when he glanced up to see Ayame frown, looking over his shoulder. "There had better not be any trouble in here," she said coolly, then turned away from the counter.

Naruto looked to his side as Hyuuga Neji carefully sat down on the stool next to him. The Branch Family Prodigy was moving a little unsteadily, like he'd been off of his feet for several days, and a bulky bandage was wrapped around his head, completely covering his forehead. He was also dressed in a plain white robe Naruto was fairly sure came from the hospital. He'd seen Hinata wearing one long enough.

Naruto didn't say a word as Ayame took his bowl away and brought him a fifth serving. She didn't ask Neji if he wanted anything, and her facial expression was coldly proper. Naruto wondered if it bothered Neji at all, being treated here like Naruto was treated in a lot of restaurants in Konoha.

If it did bother the Hyuuga boy, he didn't show it. Naruto started on his noodles, pausing only after a couple of minutes when Neji finally spoke.

"Your final blow left a large scar," he said quietly.

Naruto resumed his meal after a moment. He wasn't precisely being rude – Neji hadn't asked him a question yet.

"The Caged Bird Seal was completely obliterated when the skin was ripped away," Neji continued after a moment. "That shouldn't be possible, but the medic-nins think a burst of chakra might have disrupted the seal as the blow was struck."

Naruto resumed eating after Neji fell silent again.

Neji took a deep breath after a couple of moments. "That's equally impossible, at least not without killing me, unless there was something very strange about the chakra that was used. But given how you recovered from having your tenketsu closed, that is not very surprising." He turned on his seat, facing directly toward Naruto. "The scar that formed is also suffused with chakra. When the Elders tried to reapply my seal, that chakra disrupted the attempt. At this point, the medic-nins insisted that further attempts would be too dangerous and when Hiashi-sama insisted, the Hokage asserted his authority on the matter. My Uncle tried to have me immediately removed from the hospital, but the request was refused."

Naruto finished his ramen, drinking down the last of the broth. He wiped his lips and turned to face Neji, going over the speech he'd worked out with Shino. "Is there something you wanted to ask me, or did you just come here to bore me with your medical history?" It was a little weird, but he sort of enjoyed using that snide tone. Shino said it would annoy Neji a lot more than overt rudeness.

Neji's eyes narrowed a little, but he showed no other signs of anger. "I left the hospital because I wanted to know why. You freed me from the seal that has enslaved my family for generations. I now owe you a debt of honor, but I want to know one thing: Why did you do this?" The reserved genin's voice became a little rougher at the end, but he still spoke in little more than an intense whisper.

Naruto looked directly into Neji's eyes for a moment. "I didn't do it for you."

Neji blinked.

"I visited your cousin in the hospital after you nearly killed her," Naruto said. "I saw her every day, and she never mentioned seeing a single member of her family when she was there. She really only asked for one thing from me when I visited her. Do you know what that was?"

Neji slowly shook his head.

"Your life," Naruto snapped. "She practically begged me not to kill you. She knew I wanted to. I still want to. Either that or claw a little lower, rip out your eyes, and leave you forever blinded. She was coughing up blood at one point, but she wouldn't stop talking, wouldn't stop making excuses for you and what you did."

Naruto looked down and saw that his hands were trembling. He took a deep breath and blew it out. "I couldn't tell her no. So you had to live. But I asked my teacher if I could damage a seal using chakra in a special way and he explained how it could be done." Naruto smiled a little, but it never reached his eyes. "I don't think that was quite what he had in mind, but it seems to have worked."

"So this was just an experiment," Neji concluded in a flat voice.

"No," Naruto corrected. "You're right. You owe a debt for being freed from the seal. But you don't owe it to me, you owe it to Hinata. I did it for her. She hates that seal even more than you do."

Neji opened his mouth to protest, but Naruto interrupted him. He'd had a lot of time to practice what he wanted to say, and he wasn't about to let Neji interrupt him now. "She feels guilty and ashamed every time she thinks about the seals on you and the other branch family members. She'd rather be in the branch family herself and carry the seal than be in the main family and feel responsible for the others being sealed. And even aside from that… despite all the crap you helped her father put her through, despite all the 'special training sessions', despite you almost goddamn killing her for a stupid examination bout… she still thinks of you as "Neji-nii-san", her cousin."

Naruto shook his head. "Did you know her earliest memory is wishing she could trade places with you? She envied the fact that everyone said your father actually liked you before he died, while hers… Well, I guess he liked you better as well, as long as he had a seal on you, right?"

Neji leaned back on his stool and Naruto abruptly realized that he was leaning far forward. He took a deep breath as he straightened. "Does that sound like a weak person to you, Neji?" Naruto shook his head. "As far as I'm concerned, any debt you owe me is really owed to her. Make up with Hiashi-baka if you have to, convince him you'll remain loyal, but look out for her when I can't. Act like her cousin and not just another fucked up Hyuuga idiot. You want to discharge your debt? Well, Hinata wants her cousin back. You can start while I'm on my next mission. Try to help her out when she needs it. Give her that, and your honor is satisfied. Got it?"

Neji nodded and slowly got up from his stool. He turned to leave, paused, and then bowed very low to Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto was silent as he watched the Hyuuga leave. Then he too, stood up. He paid for his meal and headed home, where he had promised to meet another Hyuuga.

* * *

-Note-

This is just the transition chapter where I will shift from the original Team 8 plot and move on to the plot that I have started. Now it may seem really lazy to have just modified his chapter but aside from the few alterations I have placed in it. I really don't think it even could have changed very much.

In the next chapter Hinata says good bye and begins to train once more. Kurenai starts her new job. Naruto, Shino, and Haku accompany Jiraiya to return the Kazekage's children. You will see Shino's point of view as he watches the two jinchuuriki learn how manipulate their Bunshin. And Naruto will get the good news that _should _have awaited him back at Kanoha.


	2. Two Can Make a Crowd

SAND

**Two Can Make A Crowd **- Revised

_For the Sake of Pain_

- Forenote -

This chapter has been revised thanx to public beta sugestions.

* * *

Naruto arrived at his apartment shortly after leaving Ichiraku's. And upon arrival Naruto quickly prepared his home for when Hinata would arrive. She had been over several other times to train, but he was sure that they would be spending some leisure time there to say goodbye. Besides he would be gone for a while and it would really suck to come back to a pig sty. He sent out a couple of clones to get her favorite tea. And had everything nice and neat for when she would get there. He didn't, however, pack any of his things for the mission; he knew she would want to go through them before letting him leave. So instead he set them all out for inspection.

He was mostly finished when the second clone dispersed. With new memories coming to him he paused and then quickly finished up. It was a trick he'd figured out shortly before the second part of the exam. If he sent several clones to do something he could have a long distance conversation with them by dispersing a clone on his end, and having one of them do the same. it wasn't hard to figure out a way for his clones memories to be sent to all of the clones. They just had to disperse while concentrating on a particular clone. This had of course, led to new training idea's. Unfortunately, they had to disperse themselves for it, other wise it would have given him a limitless increase in bunshin techniques. When all was finished he had nothing left to do but to sit and think.

Over the weeks since the invasion they had been doing reconstruction. They completed two or three assignments a day, sometimes four. Other times they would start a job and just keep working once finished until the whole area was repaired. Even with the pay decrease, they had made about the same Ryou in the repairs as they were making before the invasion.

And with all the work they were doing his training time was halved. The work exercised him enough but it wasn't the same. He could already feel the slack setting into his body. It was about time to increase his weights again too, yet, he hadn't been doing all the stretches that he had done with Lee, and to increase the weight now might backfire. He decided that he would have to increase the gravity jutsu that Gai-sensei had taught him to put on his weights. And he'd convince Shino to join him in the stretching first.

He was also irked that Kurenai-sensei wasn't giving him any new techniques to learn while they traveled. His clones had met up with her before getting the tea. His waning time to train had been on his mind for some time, and a long boring walk would have given him plenty of time to practice a few new jutsu. But she had bluntly told him if he wanted new jutsu to practice then they would have to be something he developed himself. It may have had something to do with them escorting prisoners from a hostile nation. Of course it was more likely that she just didn't have time to prepare them. He hoped whatever the jutsu the purvey sage was going to teach him was good.

Hinata was still living with her, much to Naruto's relief. He had been quite upset at the prospect of her going back to live with her bastard family, while he was away. His best friend had been way happier at Sensei's place, even with the pains she endured from the exam. Then, after the invasion she had regained the confidence she'd lost in the hospital. She had even began training again. Although for appearances she was never included in the actual work during the reconstruction. And instead she had been given the foremen position and made sure none of his clones messed up.

For a little while he thought on if this was what it was like to have a sister. She seemed to be the ideal Ane. It was getting easier to tell what she was thinking by the way she moved. With an ominous mood developing, he considered how rapidly he began to understand, after what she had told him about the Hyuuga's. She, on the other hand, almost seemed to read his mind sometimes.

It was a nice feeling, to think that he had become so close to someone that they seemed like family to him. Even though he hadn't had a family, he was sure that they felt like this… or at least good families must.

Hinata's family on the other hand, was nothing like what he had thought a family was like. He almost wished that she could have grown up like him. No family, no 'special training,' no Neji. Almost.

But, Hinata didn't blame Neji. It wasn't as if he had been given an easy life. Naruto couldn't imagine how Neji must have felt, being force to serve the one who killed his father. Well... he could, but he didn't have a way to get back at his problem and Neji did. But, Neji should have been able to see that Hinata liked it even less than him, without needing to be told by Naruto.

Unclenching his fists, Naruto shook these thoughts away. He wanted to think of something happy before Hinata arrived. And if he could, he would be all the family she needed to make up for the family she shouldn't have.

0o0o0

Hinata left Ichiraku's and headed straight to Kurenai Sensei's house. Once there she started to prepare a big feast for the last night she would be with Naruto for the next month. The mission, as she understood it, was essentially a two-fer. They would take the Suna three back and then Jiraiya-sama would be a neutral party as they sorted out the mess Orochimaru had left. He would also be part of the group that would pick the next Kazekage.

She was disappointed that she had to stay behind, it wasn't as bad as it might have been, though. Look where she was, if the Hokage hadn't felt sorry for her, she may have ended up back at the Hyuuga compound. As guilty as it made the her feel, the past few weeks had only re-enforced her loathe of that place. She could no longer deny the fact that she wanted to live elsewhere. That she lamented the Hyuuga name.

She was almost finished preparing the meal when the door opened and her Sensei walked in. Hinata had been sensible enough to make her a portion as well. At least this way she wasn't completely useless to this household. This was the place she wanted to stay, and now that Kurenai-Sensei had gone so far as to ask it of the Hokage, she felt it vital to do as much as she could to show her appreciation. Hinata immediately got out the portion she had made and grabbed some dishes for it. She had offered to make dinner several times since coming here and normally, Sensei had let her help. It wasn't until the first week after the invasion that she got to prepare the meals by herself. And this morning Kurenai-sensei had found an especially tasty recipe.

0o0o0

"Ohayoo Sensei. " Kurenai stepped in and sniffed, "You made dinner." It was a pleased statement, Kurenai had skipped lunch. After her talk with Jiraiya, Kurenai had debated going straight back to the Hokage's office to demand answers. His dad, his life, everything she had learn about Naruto was beginning to taint her view of the Hokage. She knew he had done what he thought best, and at the time it probably made sense, but for now she could only think that it hadn't been enough.

Then, as she walked aimlessly through the village, considering how she might bring up the topic, she unexpectedly ran into Naruto. He had seen her and came bursting out of a tea shop. At first she didn't recognize him. But when she realized he was in fact a shadow clone, she quickly deduced that he had done a henge in order to shop without the general contempt he normally received. Feeling another stab of vindication towards the Hokage, she wondered when he had devised to shop like this.

It turned out that he had been in such a big hurry just to ask if she had any jutsu he could practice during the trip. Recalling that Jiraiya had told him _he_ had a new technique, Kurenai decided not to give him any distractions from the Sannin's teachings. It was likely another jonin-level jutsu. The more of those he learned the better. After leaving him in the street, she began her way back. Only realizing that she'd forgotten to ask if he wanted to join her and Hinata for dinner after she arrived home and smelt said dinner. It had been cooked early.

As Hinata set the table she asked Kurenai-Sensei if she could barrow some books for Naruto. "I want him to know a few things about where he is going." She explained.

"Well I suppose it might help" Kurenai agreed "I'll go grab a few choice selections." She went to her book shelf and got out all of the books that pertained to the nation of wind. Then she picked out the ones that were in a story format. The way Naruto seemed to learn more from stories of her past missions than from lectures was obvious. Kurenai then cut those down by the ones that would be most beneficial. She knew that Naruto would read them and learn things about the Suna, if they were entertaining and perhaps a little simple.

By the time she was done with this, Hinata had already completed setting the meal and was packing it to be transported. There was a bag in her hands waiting to be packed with the books as well.

Although Kurenai knew the answer, she just couldn't help but ask. "So did you invite Shino to the dinner you're preparing?" She almost grinned at Hinata's shame filled face resulting from the question. "Gomen" she whispered, almost so quiet Kurenai missed it. When Kurenai said nothing she replied in a slightly more audible voice "He said he was too busy to have lunch with Naruto so… so I didn't think …" And Kurenai decided that she had teased her enough.

"Don't worry; he probably would have refused anyway. He's doing some last minute insect preparations." She had been planning to set up dinner for the four of them to give them a break from the missions. But, when she asked Shino he had told her he still needed to help out as much as he could at home. So instead of taking the other two out, she had conveniently set out a few choice recipes, and was going to invite Naruto over. That had been the plan until this morning.

Hinata, looking _very_ relieved, finished packing the food and started packing the books. She was done in a matter of seconds. She was getting better. Her body had regained its normal speed and she no longer had trouble breathing. Kurenai didn't know how much longer the charade could continue. But she wasn't just getting better physically. The isolated, depressed, doormat of a girl was gone. It was stunning how much Hinata had changed. She was still timid, but her chin was strait and her stride had a purpose to it. And after the dilemma she had gone through in the hospital, she had finally found value for her life. Hinata had begun smiling almost regularly during the last month. This increased with her continuing stay.

Once she had everything packed Hinata rose to her feet. Her back straitened as she slung the pack across her shoulders. With an enthusiastic farewell, she strode from the kitchen. As she went out the door Kurenai smiled to herself. "Make sure to enjoy yourself, and try to let Naruto have fun too." Closing the door, Kurenai walk over to the chair she had just vacated and sat down, her mind already racing as she planned out Hinata's new training.

0o0o0

Hinata arrived at Naruto's apartment quite some time after leaving. She had not wanted to be seen moving quickly and had even managed a laborious looking waddle. She felt remorse at the deception, but after her triumph during the invasion, Kurenai had explained to her how necessary it was that her father didn't find out the progress of her recovery.

Naruto immediately grabbed her pack for her. Setting it down, as a shadow clone brought her some tea. Hinata took the cup and followed Naruto to his kitchen. Naruto pulled out a chair and sat down kicking the other chair out from underneath the table. Hinata sat down and looked at all of the supplies Naruto had neatly arranged on the table and counter, inspecting each piece with scrutiny. She had Naruto fill his canteen, and used her Byakugan to go over the tent. She asked about his weights and if the release strings had been tested recently. Finally, setting down the cup of tea, she opened her pack and pulled out a pouch. From the pouch she just started taking kunai out and swapping them with the ones she thought were less than worthy. Then she would place those, a total of four kunai and a couple shuriken, in a pile on the counter. She arranged the rest so that all the approved tools were on the table.

Naruto wasn't too happy that she was using her own tools to replace the ones she didn't approve of but remained silent as she seemed _very_ focused. Naruto was sure that if he so much as farted she would have jumped. She was most likely going over all the possible ways the mission could go horribly wrong.

Once she was finished they packed it all in his backpack, and set that out of the way. She seemed to relax after that and began to empty her pack. Seeing this Naruto decided he shouldn't have gone to Ichiraku's. Hinata had really out done herself this time. And even though it had been a few hours since he ate he still knew there would be leftovers.

After they had eaten, Hinata asked him what he knew about the nation of wind.

"It's hot and dry?" His reply was only a little disappointing. But, because of the expression of bewilderment Naruto had purposely made with it, Hinata was grinning, and trying not to giggle.

She reached over to her seemingly bottomless pack and began unpacking books. As she did she was reading off descriptions of the books she had brought and he could tell she had read most of them. She explained them all in a fashion that left him wondering how the book ended.

Finally, she starts telling him about a book where a man had been lost in the desert for over a year and how he had survived. At first he didn't think it was that interesting, but she started reading it to him anyway. And soon enough he was lost in the desert as she described what the man went through. Constantly in search of water, hiding from sand storms and the isolation, had effects on his mind and he eventually began talking to a rock. By the time he found his way to a village he was convinced the rock was a real person. And for years later he longed to see his friend Sasori again.

They had lost themselves in the book, until she began dozing off. She had stopped reading for a whole three minutes before Naruto noticed she was falling asleep. Reaching over he taps her on the shoulder. "hehh." her eyes only opened a crack, "Uhmm, Hinata?" She look at him and started to come out of it.

He couldn't just send her back home, Naruto decided. She would probably fall asleep in the street. "Hey Hinata, do you think you might want to spend the night?" She didn't seem to know what he was saying. Then she blushed and looked at her stuff. Maybe realizing she wouldn't get it back home that night.

"Well you seem really tired and it's late, so ... I think you'd better stay here tonight." Hinata was awake now and she felt so ashamed. She had kept Naruto up so late, and the night before a big mission too! Then it hit her, he had invited her to stay over all night! She had never stayed over at someone else's house before. Not including other Hyuuga's as her father had used them in teaching her manners as a child. Was it really all right? She didn't know what to do. But she might never get this chance again.

0o0o0

As soon as Kurenai woke she could tell today was going to be long. It was about 5:30 and still dark outside. She had needed to wake up early enough that she could get to Gai before he and Lee began training. She silently dressed and noted that Hinata still wasn't back. Oh well, she'll definitely be at the sendoff, she thought. Once she was dressed she took out a brush and stroked it through her hair, again evaluating the plans for the day;

First, she would go to see Gai and have him start Hinata out on a physical therapy regiment that _looked_ like it was meant for a week body, but would still help her get past the normal training. It was imperative that she still look in pain and un-recovered. She would also see if he would purchase some much less noticeable weights for her. If she or Hinata were seen getting them, it would be reveal that Hinata was no longer in need of her care. These weights would have to be hidden, so that if she had to be checked during one of the various appointments at the hospital, no one would find out she was wearing them.

Then it was off to Asuma. Kurenai planed on coning Asuma into doing most of the 'special' training for Hinata. She had no doubt that he would pawn it off on his students. But that was what she expected. Shikamaru would have a hard time playing shogi with her. But it would still be a pretty even match, once she realized she had to beat him without holding back or he would be insulted. His intellectual skills would force her to think more in her strategy. The genjutsu specialist had already prepared several scenario scrolls to give him.

And there was Ino. Kurenai didn't want a pliable Hinata exposed to such a nagging princess. But she estimated that Hinata would get a little more assertive as Ino lead by example, and walked all over her teammates. There was also the fact the she was a she. Hinata didn't really have any female friends. If she did, she might be able to occupy her free time she would have spent with Naruto. That was a big help. Hinata needed a way to escape from her problems and if Ino was anything like the shrew Kurenai had seen in the academy she would be teaching Hinata all about wasting time. But same or not she'd show her more than a little bit about romance. Kurenai knew that would prove useful to her shy little pupil later on.

Choji, was a rather gentle kid but he seemed to take training seriously. Once he saw her brute strength, they would be brawling to see just what she had behind her. But Kurenai made a mental note to make sure Hinata never made food for them. If she did, she'd become the personal chef instead of a new student.

Of course Asuma could actually do some teaching and that would benefit both his students and Hinata.

She felt a little bitter satisfaction that she was robbing that bastard of his daughter. It crossed her mind to try going after Hanabi as well but the memory of how ungrateful the brat had been at the border followed it. She knew that she was just being petty when she thought it though.

After that she would see Naruto off and leave Hinata with Asuma for her first day of training. And then she had to see the Hokage. Her new job would allow her and Iruka to further investigate Naruto, and there would be loads of paper work to do what with the Hokage's arm. She also thought on what she would say to the Hokage about the items Jiraiya mentioned. It would be a very difficult conversation.

Grabbing a piece of fruit, Kurenai left to arrange Hinata's training.

0o0o0

Ayame woke up to a pounding on her door. It was probably Naruto, asking for breakfast early. He had done this before, but not since he had graduated from the academy. Yawning she rolled out of bed and headed for the door. She looked out the peep hole to see a big bright blue eye peeping back in.

It was Naruto alright. "It's too early Naruto comeback when the shop opens." She yelled through the door and in reply she got more knocking but this time there were several and they were all hollering. 'That he didn't have time,' and something about 'before a 'she' woke up.'

Finally Ayame gave in and opened the door to Naruto or rather a dozen Naruto's all of them asking for help. She told them to shut up. And they did. "I'll say this again, the shop isn't open for another ho-" and she was interrupted as they all started saying they weren't there for ramen. One said he was hungry but changed his mind after being slugged. One of them handed her a toad bag, another of them said they could pay for the lessens. What lessens? She thought.

Instead of asking all of them, she grabbed the one who had shove the toad in her hand and pulled him inside. Then she slammed the door on another ones face.

"So are you the real Naruto." She knew about his clones and figured it would be the real one holding the money. "No, the real one isn't with us." he replied.

He hadn't even come. He had just sent clones _this early_ in the morning. "Ok then, go tell the real Naruto, that he can come in person for his breakfast at _opening time!_"

He set his face with a stubborn look. "We're not here for breakfast. We need to learn how to cook and fast." Puzzling, learn to cook, why? "You need to cook?" she asked.

She thought for a moment and recalled what the clones had been going on about. One of them had said something about a girl. She grinned on the inside but kept her face stern. "If you want to learn how to cook, then tell me something." She waited until he nodded. "Is it Hinata-chan or your Sensei, your cooking for?" His face went red and she knew the answer, but she was a little irked about _when_ he decided to ask for lessens. She had put him on the spot, but he still managed to mumble that it was Hinata.

0o0o0

When Hinata woke she felt so well rested that she immediately scanned Naruto's bed to see what was in it. But it was just a plain bed. and not a very good one at that. She thinks on the night, not understanding the good sleep as she had had a hard time getting to sleep. Naruto had insisted she take the mattress, and she could smell him on the pillow. She had been too excited about where she was about to sleep. But finally she drifted away. And she felt that she hadn't had a better night's sleep since her mother died.

She woke to a worm home. She could smell something good. As she got up, she sniffed at the smell. After quickly making the bed, she headed for the kitchen. Naruto and ten or so of his clones were cooking. There were at least ten at any given moment. And what they were cooking surprised her. It was a meal like what she would have cooked her family on a very special occasion. Even most of the expensive restaurants didn't cook like this for a single meal. But she was sure that he was cooking it much better. When had he learned to cook like this? She wondered. As far as she knew he only cooked ramen.

"Ohayoo. Good morning Hinata, ya hungry?" One of the clones said and immediately another set the table with two sets of dishes.

0o0o0

When Kurenai arrived for the sendoff, almost everybody was there; The Suna three were settled down on the ground just under the gateway, the little red-head was asleep. Haku was standing on the wall, Shino was with his mother, and Naruto and Hinata were talking to the Third. Who had probably felt it necessary to see off this controversial procession.

Jiraiya was late though. Just like him to make everyone wait as he thought up a grand entrance. Naruto walked over to Haku and asked him how he slept. Then introduced Hinata to him again. The first time they had met was just a formality and there was no real introduction in it. However, it was Kurenai's assumption that the way they had been introduced was most likely so they could be informed of Haku's gender beforehand. With how the Hokage had emphasized that Haku was a male, it seemed that he had had a hard time believing it too. And Naruto had actually had to look up close to see it.

0o0o0

Hinata had just started to ask Haku where he was from, when Shino suggested that it would be pertinent for them to introduce the Suna three to him. They had not been entitled to the initial introduction that the members of team 8 had received. Hearing this, the three Suna rose, the blond kunoichi wakened the slumbering gaki and led him after their brother. "This is Haku. He is the third member of the team assigned the task of escorting your return." Shino explained.

Gaara blinked obviously wondering if he had woken all the way. Kankuro, attempting to hide the glances, actually looked the mist shinobi up and down, questioningly. Temari, the only one not affected by the chuunin's feminine appearance, introduced herself without a pause. This prompted two more introductions from the males.

Introduction accomplished, Hinata inquired about Haku's origins once more. She had managed to establish a thorough conversation between him and the three Suna after a matter of near two minutes. Viewing it from a distance of more than ten feet, it would probably appear in closer approximation to an interrogation. Shino concluded that the abruptness of Hinata's questioning was an expression of her relationship to Naruto and himself. It was plausible that she was attempting to verify that Haku could be relied on.

Haku, evidently unfamiliar with the social interaction, merely stood atop the wall, answering in monosyllable words such as yes or no; or he would remain silent until another question is asked. In contrast, that response produced the opposite reaction. Inducing Temari to ask increasingly complicated questions. She and Naruto had that in common.

Eventually they began receiving more descriptive answers from the him. The feminine chunnin evidently realized that his inquisitors were going to continue the barrage, and took a step forward, dropping down off the wall. Subsequently, he added his own questions to the discussion. Mainly, they were directed towards precautions taken for the mission. But Hinata's Byakugan brought up curiosity. He bluntly asked 'how well they would work against a sharingan.'

Shino, during this time, took notice that Hinata was still wearing the clothing she had worn the day before. Although, they had been smoothed out, her pants displayed the creases accredited to having been slept in. Taking that into account and adding the direction she arrived from, as well as the contents of the pack she had placed on a nearby bench, suggested that she'd spent the night at Naruto's apartment. He decided to mention it to Naruto as they leave the village.

0o0o0

Kurenai had noticed too. When Hinata hadn't returned the night before she knew she must have decided to stay the night. Kurenai wasn't worried. She knew Naruto wouldn't do anything inappropriate. _That_ type of inappropriate. And even with the crush Hinata had on him, there was no way she would either. It did propose that she was recovered, yet Kurenai was incapable of denying her the extra time with her friend before he was omitted from the village and her attentions. But, she would still have a talk with Hinata when they left.

Looking around Kurenai saw several water barrels. They had straps attached to the side, padded where they would rest on the shoulders, so that one could carry them sideways on their back. Whatever they were for was probably going to involve fighting. It was likely for Haku's jutsu: since he used ice and they would be in the desert. It would only be natural for him to need so much extra water. They would be filling them in the land of rivers. Then she noticed a gigantic bag of … balloons? There was no way she would figure that one out.

The Suna were gathered together and seemed impatient. Even Gaara was tapping his feet. Temari had grabbed one of the books that Hinata had loaned to Naruto. Kankuro was tinkering with one of his puppets. They had not been given access to any form of weaponry, so he hadn't maintained them. And Hinata was the only one left speaking to Haku.

She spotted Iruka running up to Naruto. He looked winded. Then he sauntered over to the wall and leaned against it looking like he had just gotten chewed out. Kurenai joined him.

"I assume Naruto had a talk with you about that betting ring you organized." She inquired, crossing her arms as if she were about to lecture him on behavior. She knew Naruto approved the betting in the preliminaries, but, she wasn't so sure he would want Iruka betting on his match with Neji.

"Yeah, he did." Iruka replied. Then he grinned. "From the look he was giving me, I thought he intended to lecture me about gambling, but instead he's blackmailing me." He seemed happy about this.

Kurenai's eyebrows rose. "He's blackmailing you?" That was a surprise, although, it wasn't unlike Naruto to do something unpredictable. Or to get others to go along with it.

Iruka shook his head and remembered how Naruto had said he wanted 'in on the action' after the preliminaries. "He said that since I was willing to cheat all those idiots out of their money, and forgot to ask if he wanted in, then I should be willing to pay him his fair share."

"Oh? And that is..?" His fair share eh? Kurenai was interested in how Naruto figured that he should profit at all.

"Yep, 20% of all profits that I made from bets on his matches." Iruka gave an exasperated sigh, as if that was a small fortune. That was 20% of Iruka's profits and the percentage took out of the dozen or so bets he had placed for others. It sounded like only a little pocket change.

One of her eyebrows rose quizzically. "And it's to be paid in ramen I suppose?" It would only fit Naruto's character that he had Iruka pay for his meals for the next month.

"No he's grown up a little since you started training him." Was that a complement or mockery "Now he wants paid in explosive tags. He sent me to go get them as soon as I got here."

Iruka sounded as if he were actually whining, like Naruto had at the academy. It had to be mockery. Iruka's slouch increased. "The shop he told me to get them from was real nice and there was great quality merchandise there and all for a good price too." It was little Tenten's dad's shop. He had gone there before, but the way Naruto specified this shop, he felt he had to prod.

"But, I still ended up buying out all their tags." Kurenai gave a little jump there, and glared at Iruka as if he had intentionally startled her. "Just how much money _did_ you make!" she demanded. She was thinking she should have Iruka placing bets for her too. She had plenty of money, but still.

She never got her answer, because at that moment Jiraiya arrived. He was on the roof of a house and striking a ridiculous pose. Kurenai and Iruka went over to the house and scolded him for being so late. He jumped down and gave her a flirtatious grin. Ignoring it, she turned on heel and walked over to her genin. The other two had little choice but to follow her. Kurenai didn't bother to lecture them she just told them not to be reckless and to stay out of the Suna politics as much as possible. Shino's mom waved goodbye and he acknowledged it with a slight raise of his own, then they were off.

As they began to leave, several clones picked up the water barrels and Kankuro's puppets. Then more of them came carrying kago that had _not_ been there. Jiraiya pulled Gaara up on his. The dozing boy gave him a suspicious look and let his head droop once more. Temari climbed on one, next to Shino. Haku had one with very thick covering on it, which he immediately closed after getting in. Kankuro said he preferred to walk so that he could get a look at his puppets, as a duo of clones walked up to Temari with her fan. She shifted and asked if there were any cushions. Naruto almost smacked himself. He apologized and created a new clone which in turn transformed into a pillow.

Naruto handed it up to her. Temari looked at him as though she was going to hit him. She looked at the pillow then back at him as he walked off. Shino leaned over from his perch and stated "I'll inform you that Naruto expended copious amounts of effort in creating that makura bunshin technique. In total, the hours he spent on it equals over a whole weeks' time." He didn't mention that, that was adding up the clones separate hours. In real time it only took 6 hours to get it right. And the idea had been meant to be used for taking a nap during the meal break. And so they could sit down on-site wherever they were working. With that Temari put the pillow behind her back and refused to sit on it, even thought she would be shifting the rest of that day's trip.

0o0o0

They were headed out. Hinata continued to watch as they left. When even her Byakugan couldn't see them, she turned to leave. And there was Kurenai. Hinata bowed her head, mentally preparing for the scolding. It never came. Kurenai said nothing. She just started to walk and they silently returned to the house. She felt that she should speak up but just couldn't figure out what to say. Was Kurenai-sensei so upset that she couldn't talk to her in public?

When they arrived she unpacked the breakfast that Naruto had made. And the rest of the stuff he told her to take. He didn't want it to go bad after he left. Kurenai notes that it is not the same meal Hinata made yesterday. And Hinata explained that Naruto made it. That left Kurenai intrigued. If he could make this, then why all the ramen? They set about eating a lunch composed of Naruto's breakfast. And at great wonder Kurenai loved it. She decided to make Naruto start cooking on a regular basis.

As they were finishing Kurenai brought up her absence at last. "So Hinata, did you enjoy your night out?" Hinata wasn't expecting her to be so casual about it but she had been questioned this way before. "I-it was fine. A-an-and noth_ing happened_." she stuttered. Her face burned, she hadn't meant for the last part to be so high pitched but her voice betrayed her shame.

"I'm not mad, Hinata, but it would have been nice to know where you were. Just have Naruto send over a messenger clone next time you're going to stay over. Ok?" Hinata was surprised, she wasn't in _any_ trouble! Hinata felt strangely happy about that. It meant she could stay over at Naruto's whenever she wanted to. Once he returned. She tingled just at the concept.

To change the topic Kurenai brought up Hinata's new training. She would wake up early, as was the usual before the exam, and she would train with Gai for two hours. then she would have to go to team 10 for other training. Kurenai would show her where they met up for that. After that she would have her midday meal and perform the recovery routine. A regiment created by Kurenai and Gai working together. Rest for a while, and when Kurenai returned, she would teach her something new. Or she might just leave the instructions on a note.

With that all explained, Kurenai brought Hinata to the place that team ten usually met. It was Asuma's house. The wooden cabin was deep in trees, there was abundant room for taijutsu practice. The grass around the trees was torn and dug up from sparring. On the deck was a table with shogi pieces set in place. That was where Asuma sat. Her meeting with Asuma had gone just as she thought it would. He had acted reluctant. But after she brought up his team's results at the exam, he gave in with his usual complaints. And when she waited there to give her instructions to his students as well, he tried to protest his sentence at the results of their bet. She had simply told him that if he wanted to smoke he would risk having his mind twisted into wearing a dress to the next jonin meeting.

Once they arrived she could tell that Asuma had been training his three students hard. Choji was sitting on the grass panting and Ino leaned over with her hands on her knees. Her arms had a continuous tremor. Shikamaru released his shadow hold on her and she collapsed to her knees with a gasp of surprise.

Kurenai left Hinata there with a wish of good luck. Shikamaru wiped sweat from his face and walked over to her. "Well, Hinata-san, you arrived with excellent timing."

Ino looked at her gratefully. "We needed a break."

Choji just lay back and closed his eyes.

Hinata wasn't sure if interrupting their training was cause for thanks, but didn't speak. She looked up at Shikamaru when he spoke again. "So, do you know how to play shogi?"

0o0o0

Kurenai felt good about the training Hinata was going to do. Kurenai also now knew just how soon Hinata would be able to wear weights again. So long as nobody found out. She hummed to herself in amused pride as she walked to the Hokage's office. Today had been a very productive day and it was only half way through. However, her good demeanor ended at the Hokage's office.

Once there, she realized that she had to be angry. She had wanted to try it calmly, the way she first confronted him about Naruto's life. But what she had learned the past two days required emphases. It was something she should have been informed of already. She was outraged and Sarutobi needed to know it. Setting her most pissed off look, one that made the guards at his door flinch, she walked in to the office and reported in.

The sandaime was sitting at his desk, tapping his fingers on the armrest of his chair. By the wall was a table with a large stack of paper on it and a chair that had been pulled out so that it faced the Hokage's desk. She stepped through the doorway ready to demand an explanation; The sandaime, without so much as a word, leaned forward and picked up three folders. Which he gave to her with a single word of greeting.

She hastily returned the greeting before flipping the middle one open and found herself looking at a very busty woman. She looked to be about in her early forties. Although, the page put her in her sixties. Turning to the last and largest one, she saw several pages on several ninja. Each one looking like trouble. When she got to Itachi, she looked up. "What are these?" she was already sure she knew, it had to be the Akatsuki.

The Hokage leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath before replying. "I found a letter on my desk this morning. It gave me a heads up, from my old student. He wrote that there is a possible work hazard that could occur," The sandaime was adding an imitation of meekness to his voice that made this explanation sound as if he could have been in danger. "Evidently, the circumstances surrounding certain ninja need to be explained to my newest assistant."

_That_ was why Jiraiya had been late! She started to speak, but he raised a hand and in a voice that sounded close to violence, even though his face was still melancholy, he continued. "Perhaps he was right, it would be better if you read those _before_ we have this discussion." He waved his hand towards the chair by the table.

Sitting down she opened the first one and browsed through it. It was mainly about Naruto. But there were also some things on his father too. Most of it was stuff she already knew. But one she didn't know was that there had been an _open_ attempt on his life by a couple of children from the academy, when he was two. Nor did she know that his dad, the fourth Hokage, had left warning that someone was _controlling_ the Kyuubi when it attacked. If something like _that_ had gotten _out_ there would have been war. But it only briefly mentioned Naruto's mother. She came from whirlpool village, a village long since gone. And she was under the training of the first Hokage's wife. But that was it.

The second one was simpler. It contained the basic information on the Sannin Tsunade. And her last few known locations, as well as a brief description of her gambling and drinking habits. The fact that she was almost uncatchable. Then the last page held the contact information of several recon ninja and some civilian informants.

The final one gave a description of each known Akatsuki member. It listed the reported sightings of them as well as what undertakings they have been involved in. She barely glance at the individual profiles she would go back to them later. But instead, she focused on the main pages of the group in total.

They were led by an unknown entity called Pein, and it seemed they were gathering powerful rogue ninja's, and as many reports on the jinchuuriki as they could retrieve. More than a dozen lackeys had been caught trying to infiltrate other nations and Konoha had two rogue ninja currently in the Akatsuki.

Satisfied that she had gotten the jest of it, Kurenai closed the folders and stood. The Sandaime had waited as she read barely moving a muscle. Now that she was done, he opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out an ink set and quill. "As Naruto's instructor, you will of course be informed on all the interests in the Kyuubi. It is only natural that you should be given the clearance to investigate such matters freely."

He set the ink and quill on the desk and motioned for her to take them. "You will have access to all of the records available to the Hokage concerning Naruto and the Akatsuki. I expect you particularly to contribute in the investigation of the rogue ninja and all of their associates."

Then his voice shifted from the informative pace and into a lighter and more prompt one. "But more immediately, I want you to head the search for my student and successor. A woman of your creativity should be able to make short work of locating her and predicting her movements after. You may begin contacting recon, once you're done with the paperwork." He gestured to the table behind her.

Realizing that was the end of the conversation, she sighed and set to work, having not even said the words she had rehearsed in her head a night earlier.

0o0o0

They had been out of sight from the village for over twenty minutes. Shino slid off his kago and walked up to the real Naruto to ask him if he enjoyed his night with Hinata. Naruto turned red and asked how Shino knew. "She was in the cloths she had on yesterday and they appeared to be slept in." He explained, "and you both came from the direction of your home, Kurenai's home is from another direction. I could have assumed that she had gone to visit with how early you two go to train with Gai, but the breakfast foods in her bags mean she likely made bre-"

At that point Naruto accusingly demanded Shino say how he knew where they came from. He just looked at him, more than a little slighted. Naruto put 2&2 together and stated "You still have us _bugged_?" He seemed to be a little relived at that. Shino wondered how else Naruto had thought he would know. After a moment Shino answered "I bug everybody" receiving a chuckle from the smaller boy. Although it was only Hinata that was tagged. His allies didn't like Naruto. They would eventually abandon his teammate if he were to tag him for longer than two or three hours. With that Shino climbed back on the chair and asked to browse the books.

During that day Temari read three of the books to Gaara and Naruto's clones to keep their minds off the walk. They really enjoyed the stories. Gaara even seemed to get excited at the end of one. Of course Naruto on the other hand was barely able to suppress a cheer. And when Shino started to read to the clones, Naruto acted especially shocked. Shino had estimated the logical or described voice patterns of the characters and was imitating them. He also applied what he thought was the 'appropriate amount of emotion.'

They didn't stop to eat lunch but Naruto passed around the leftovers from the dinner Hinata had made, and they ate as they walked. The rest of that day went the same. They walked at a leisurely pace, listening to Temari and Shino take turns reading.

That night the seven of them pitched camp in the smaller of two open spaces in the trees, and sat down to relax. The suna had one tent and Shino and Naruto shared a tent. Haku and Jiraiya each brought their own. Haku's was insolated; He merely needed to use his ice jutsu once and it would stay cool the rest of the night. The Famous Sannin and author of the Icha-Icha series, had a much more lavishing one. It was big enough for him to pace in. The towering ninja would have had to reach up to touch the ceiling. Shino was certain he recognized the shapes of furniture inside the tent.

They ate dinner and Haku didn't waste any time eating. His food was gone in a matter of seconds. After he asked the order of who would keep watch, he retired to his tent. Dinner finished, Temari sat down next to Gaara and started to read to him. It was the book that Hinata had read to Naruto the previous night. And he told them so.

"Well if you've already heard this one, maybe we should do some training." The old shinobi groaned as he stood and walked over to the larger clearing.

Naruto jumped up and followed Jiraiya. "Sooo.. Sensei, what are you gonna teach me this time?" He was clearly excited, and didn't even display the consequences of the day's walk, while utilizing his multitude of clones to carry three kago and the numerous wooden barrels. "I'm not going to teach you anything whelp. I just thought we might work on your chakra control." Naruto sighed, but began gathering his chakra. Shino had stopped listening to Temari, and turned to watch Naruto train. "First, I want you to make a single kage bunshin with as much chakra in it as you can."

Naruto did so. Forming all of the seals and ending with the Ram, he held the last one for a moment longer and then there was a pop and a burst of chakra. The result was a clone that didn't even appear human. It was grotesquely obese; every centimeter was swollen and veiny. Its face was a muddle of pulsing bulges and its clothing was lose in some spots and ripping in others. After only enough time for him to get a look at it, it dispersed. "Good, now make it look like you." Jiraiya nodded approvingly "But keep adding as much chakra as you can."

Gaara stood up somewhere behind him and walked up to see what had been there. He glanced curiously at Shino in hopes of an answer. Seeing the look Shino answered. "It is an attempt to control a larger amount of chakra through a single kage bunshin. Or find out the maximum amount of chakra the bunshin is capable of containing." Shino figured there were only two reasons for this: One, to use up large amounts of Naruto's chakra; and two, for Jiraiya's personal amusement.

Naruto's next one looked only slightly smaller but was almost completely covered in pulsing veins. After two more tries Naruto looked as if he had been exhausted but he continued each time the clone was getting more natural looking. Then, what could only be described as a sand blob swirled up next to Naruto's latest clone. Naruto had been so focused that at the sight of it he lost his concentration, dispersing the clone, and flopped down and the ground, his hands on the ground behind him holding him in a sitting position.

Jiraiya looked at Gaara, realizing reluctantly, that he might have to give him something to do as well. "Naruto, keep doing that. Gaara," he pointed to the other side of the clearing. "Let's make some room."

They moved over about three meters and Jiraiya leaned against a tree on the other side. "Make your normal suna bunshin please." The sand swirled until it had made a likeness of him. Though, it had his shape and features, it still looked the color of sand. Jiraiya took no notice of this.

"How many bunshin can you make?" He asked, another clone swirled up to the first one. As soon as it was done a third began.

"Can you make more than one at a time?" Gaara's expression changed from anticipation to surprise. As though it had never occurred to the little ninja to make them more than one at a time.

The dark rings around Gaara's eyes deepened as he put on a look of determination. And the sand swirled into three more clones but these ones weren't the same. One of them was so thin it was skeletal and another was missing an arm while its leg was twice its natural length and bent at the knee so the clone wouldn't fall over. The third one was curled up on the ground. Blinking at the failure Gaara dispersed all of them and tried again. This time one of them actually vomited. Making retching sounds as sand came up. Gaara was so shocked that he struck out at it and a blast of sand dispersed it.

Jiraiya held his hand up as Gaara began to gather the sand again. "What are you thinking as you form the sand?" he asked. Gaara was puzzled and Shino wasn't sure what Jiraiya was after either.

"I am forming three bunshin, Sannin-sama" he said. Then he closed his eyes and began to describe his clones the way he pictured them in his head. He described make three of each part he made for the clones. And after a second Jiraiya stopped him. The shinobi was thumbing one side of his chin thoughtfully. Likely, he had just figured something out.

"Instead of making three different bunshin at once, try making the same bunshin in three places." Now Shino understood. Gaara had been making the three clones by performing a single clone jutsu three times at once, instead of making a multiple clone jutsu. Gaara didn't get it. But he tried anyway. And the result was three disproportionate clones, but they were all exactly the same.

As he and Jiraiya worked on this, Naruto was making a lot of progress. His clone looked proportionate now but it still had bulging veins and a beat red face. Naruto on the other hand looked haggard. His face, like the clone's, was turning red and sweat shined on his brow, dripping down off his nose. Shino turned his attention back to the others and realized that they had stopped their activities and joined the audience.

Finally, Jiraiya stood up strait and stretched. "That's enough for tonight. It's time for a snooze. We can finish this tomorrow."

0o0o0

The next morning Gaara woke first. He sat and listened to his siblings breathing. He enjoyed the sound. He had ever since the old sealing expert had granted him sleep. Jiraiya must have woken up because there was a loud clanging outside. The suna exited their tent, Gaara in the lead. Outside, Naruto had four of his clones trying to wrest the pot and spoon away from a formidable opponent. It was a toad. A rather large one, but a toad no less. Jiraiya stood outside his tent laughing.

They broke camp quickly. At first Gaara did nothing and just waited for his siblings to pack his things. But at Jiraiya's comment that his things weren't going to pack themselves, he set about doing it on his own. Haku having been the only one to go to bed early was the first one packed. Although, he had used his speed in it as though it were a mission, he was only finished a little before Jiraiya, who had basically packed his though jutsu.

This time Kankuro wasn't the only one to walk. Naruto only made the one kago for Haku. After he'd dispersed all of the kago clones yesterday, Temari had been stunned, then she almost tackled him. But Kankuro had calmed her down without the leaf ninja even knowing her intentions. Gaara still wondered what had offended her. He didn't think it was polite to be angry with someone who had just carried her all day. So to get her mind off it, he asked her to read another book to him after dinner.

The morning was quiet. None of them spoke as the troupe moved through the forest. They were going much faster than they had been yesterday. Not to mention that they had left quite later in the day than this. The sun was just peaking the horizon as the seven left the clearings behind. They walked well into the day. It was quite past noon when they halted to eat lunch.

Temari got the book she had been reading last night and began where she left off. Gaara had little interest in desert survival and it didn't take long for his mind to wander.

Temari had been crying. She had been upset about him. Afraid even. Not afraid of him, but for him. He had thought about this before, during their captivity in Konoha.

Since Jiraiya-sama had altered his seal he had seen more of his elder sister's emotional side. He could tell if she was upset about something, it showed in her face, and the way she moved. He had never noticed that before. He wondered if the seal had been getting in the way of his perception of others.

During their captivity, she had treated him like a little kid instead of the weapon he had always been. The first time she giggled at something he did, he just didn't know what to do. It was the first time he had ever felt… good… about being near someone else. And more recently she was touching him at what he could only figure was random times.

Like when he had asked if she remembered her mother. She didn't answer him, she just held him. It was… comforting. But he didn't get his question answered.

During the weeks they had spent in the leaf village he had gotten to know her more than he had ever known anyone. But now that he was traveling with the leaf, they were immersed in a social venue. He had began learning more about the world and how things were supposed to go.

He didn't understand it, but it made him feel pain. Pain like he'd felt when he was little. It occurred to him that he had caused this same pain to so many other people. Including Naruto. The pain got worse. In a new way, he was suffering. He knew that he had done the worst to so many people. He didn't understand why he had never felt this new pain.

Why, had he never realized what he had done? It weighed down on him. What had changed? Was it his seal or did it happen when he realized that his siblings valued him. Why was it only now, after he had been spared the fate he placed on so many, that he felt guilty?

0o0o0

That night was much like the night before. They ate and then Naruto and Gaara trained. But Haku had not gone to sleep this time. He stayed up and watched as Naruto made clone after clone until they looked just like him.

Looking at the clone he told it to go ask 'the ol'perve' if the clone was good enough. Haku decided that the way the Sannin and Naruto often used derogatory names to refer to each other was a form of endearment. This likely meant that Naruto had a place of importance to the Sannin. He referred to the others in a much more appropriate way. He was referred to as Haku-san, Shino was bug boy, Gaara was Gaara, Temari was titled kunoichi, and Kankuro was just called Suna. Likely because the Sannin hadn't found a more imaginative description that could roll off the tongue. This was the only difference in the way he treated them. The rest of the interaction was plain courtesy and an undertone of superiority.

The clone walked over to Jiraiya and Gaara, and waited until they took a moment. Gaara had began working at this as if his life depended on getting it right and he had reached five clones at once. And they were all just like him, except for the color. "Yes this one's good. Now tell the brat to come over here." With a pop the clone dispersed.

"OK whelp, do you remember the genkaku bunshin no jutsu they taught you in class at the academy?"

Naruto looked a little annoyed at the mention of the academy. "Yeah, but I was never able to do it. And besides I can do the kage bunshin no jutsu." Jiraiya nodded with a look of understanding. "Well Naruto, that is because you have too much chakra. A kage bunshin is solid. It can touch things; therefore, it needs much more chakra. The genkaku bunshin requires very little chakra so when you use the amount you normally put in a kage bunshin, it comes out sickly and useless."

At that Shino spoke up. "It is the same as with the Suiton jutsu Kurenai-sensei taught us. You were applying an overly excessive amount of chakra." The Sannin had paused so Shino could speak and now grinned, obviously pleased he did. "That's right bug boy," Shino had rebuked the term that morning but, it was.. Difficult… to argue with a Sannin. "Now, why don't you try using about a third of the chakra that you would put in the Suiton." Naruto considered this and then clapped his hands together and the clearing was full of clones.

Naruto was surprised how many bunshin he had made, he had been going for a less powerful quantity, but after getting used to using so much chakra he over did it. Dispersing half of them, the original set them to making the image clone. Haku walked over to the group. Giving a slight bow to the Sannin he made his request. "Jiraiya-sama, I request your instruction in making my own koori bunshin as well."

"What the hell is this," The hermit growled, "I'm not running an academy you know." Taking that as a refusal the chunnin bowed his head and retreated. "I didn't say no, Haku-san."

Halting in his tracks Haku waited for the answer. The hermit's face hardened and relaxed as he gave a heavy sigh. Too most, the change in expression may have been unnoticed. But he had been raised by one who had very little expression. "I'll show you the basic seals and we'll see what you can do with them."

Jiraiya left Naruto and Gaara for a few minutes and returned after Haku was started. It was not that he couldn't make a clone, but that he had never tried. And it wasn't long, with a few more tips from Jiraiya, until his clone was formed and only needed to look more like him.

By the end of the night Naruto had mastered making image clones. Gaara had begun coloring his clones but hadn't gotten it right yet. They did however begin to become self-aware.

0o0o0

When they woke up the next day, Jiraiya had them perform the jutsu they had completed the night before. Satisfied, he had them break camp. Only an hour or so later they left the dense trees and entered the land of rivers.

During the walk Naruto figured out how to teach Gaara taijutsu without his sand protection getting in the way. And when they stopped for lunch he tried it.

It was his theory that Gaara's sand only protects him, not his clones. First Naruto had to check to see if the sand clones remembered. He did this by having one of his clones take a sand clone far enough that he couldn't hear them. Telling him the password and asking Gaara after the clone dispersed. Then Naruto had a few of his clones spar with Gaara's to see what he could do. After about twenty minutes Jiraiya told Naruto to finish the lesson and start walking.

After setting up camp that night, Naruto created a clone for each of Gaara's clones and worked with them the same way Gai had worked with him. Although he couldn't do the hypnotic voice thing, he was still able to teach Gaara's clones all the basics. And made his clones repeat them until Gaara was able to perform them easily. Off in the distance Haku is still working on his bunshin. But he would finish it that night. Kankuro had finished repairing his puppets and resealed them. That done he asked if he could spar with Naruto.

His movements were slow compared to Naruto's normal training, but he had more body strength than Lee. Naruto decided this, when he caught Naruto's fist in his armpit and swung him into a nearby tree.

0o0o0

Morning came too soon. Naruto did his morning stretches with Gaara. Correcting the boy's form every now and then. They also had their clones performed some basic sparring, while Shino sparred with Kankuro. But before the troupe started the trek, Jiraiya asked Naruto to step away for a moment. He was excited about something. It shown through his gruff facial expressions, by his twitching fingers and the way he stepped with shorter strides as he walked.

He and Naruto spoke a few yards away. Then Naruto let out a "Yatta!" Naruto was overjoyed. But calmed down quickly and they walked back to the five waiting. Shino could guess what had been discussed.

"I take it, you now outrank me?" Shino inquired. Naruto was grinning as widely as he had back at the academy. He couldn't suppress his glee, but he did try. He didn't want to make Shino feel bad. There were congratulations from the remaining genin. Temari actually smiled giving hers.

"Hurmmf. It wasn't like he didn't out do _all_ of the other genin, or perform amazing _jonin level_ jutsu; taught to him by Konoha's _**legendary Sannin**_." The old ninja, felt exasperated. Naruto's promotion was only _expected_.

"Well, I promised to teach you a new jutsu, and now that you're a chunnin, I have the perfect one." The Sannin had picked up the only piece of fire wood leftover from last night. And started the rest of them walking, they were informed that the Sannin and the new chunnin would follow yards behind.

0o0o0

After the genin had gotten about four meters up Jiraiya handed Naruto a water balloon. He had filled it with water from of one of the barrels his clones had carried. Naruto was perplexed. "What does a water balloon have to do with jutsu?"

"Well, for one, it is the first step towards learning it." As he walked the legendary ninja tossed the piece of wood up and caught it. Only to repeat this action. It was apparent that he wasn't going to explain further. "Well… aren't you going to show me which seals to use?"

Jiraiya held the piece of wood and the stuck his other hand out like he was holding a water balloon too. "This. Is the only form you need. There are no seals to this jutsu. It's just a matter of molding your chakra the right way."

As Naruto looked a little glow began above the callused palm. Little wisps of chakra gathered and swirled. It spun in every direction Naruto could see. Almost as soon as it began, the chakra was a round swirling mass the size of his head.

"Take a good look boy, for _I _am going to teach _you_ **The Rasengan!**" With the declaration he brought his hands together and the Rasengan ate though the block until it was gone.

Naruto almost jumped with enthusiasm, he couldn't wait to use that jutsu. "_Alright_! Lets get started! What do I do with the **water balloon**!"

Jiraiya blinked, "oh… right." He had gotten carried away with the big reveal and forgotten to tell Naruto how he was supposed to use the balloon. "You saw how I made the Rasengan, just try to do that. To pass this step you must pop that water balloon using your chakra in the way you saw mine form.

0o0o0

They were about to enter the land of wind. Temari was leading the way. The butch kunoichi had tossed Shino the book she was reading to Gaara and told Kankuro she would take point. She started to pick up the pace as they got closer. Kankuro and Gaara didn't seem to notice. Naruto's clones expressed more energy as the group began moving quicker. All of the clones were picking up on the excitement of their creator.

Shino regretted the reason that this jutsu was being taught away from the group. The Suna genin were curious. But, he had to admit they had succeeded far better at ignoring the urge to look back. Temari still hadn't done so yet. Gaara was the only one to look back more than Shino had. But Shino could tell he was just making sure Naruto was still following them. Gaara almost seemed to be asleep on his feet sometimes.

When they had left the border well behind, they stopped for lunch. Naruto and Jiraiya caught up in only moments. They ate in an awkward silence. Broken only by Naruto's hasty eating. To add to the excitement of the day, Jiraiya had made a group sized pot of ramen. He utilized more than one jutsu in preparing it.

It had occurred to Shino that Naruto's promotion would have some adverse reactions awaiting him back in the village. Yet, on this mission the new chunnin was reaping the full celebration. He stifled the desire to point out the 'coincidence' to their leader.

A loud slurp came out of Gaara, who had been attempting to mirror Naruto's gusto.

0o0o0

"Whelp, do you think you can keep up the training without my having to baby sit?" Jiraiya was sealing his dishes in a small scroll and slipped the the scroll in a pocket. Haku had volunteered to clean the pot and cups before he packed them away.

Naruto looked around, there was only sand dunes in the surrounding area. Any vegetation was left behind with the border. "Yeah. I mean, it isn't like I'm going to break anything out here." Naruto had, of course, eaten more ramen than the rest of them and was now relaxing on one of his pillow clones. The clone had been made with very little chakra and was just a cushy mass.

"Just make sure not to fall behind." The hermit swung his pack up and on his back, then motioned for the rest of the troupe to follow. Naruto waited a few minutes before hopping up and dispersing the makura bunshin.

Naruto worked on the water balloon for the rest of the days walk. Up with the others, Jiraiya lead the way. He listened to Temari reading one of the various books to her little brother. His discrete glances told him Gaara was enveloped in her words. The hermit wondered if Gaara would have been able to do that in the forest without running into a tree.

The sun was more than half way down in the sky when Temari stopped reading. Kankuro came up beside him and indicated the east. The sandy clouds in the distance were all he needed to see. Sand storms were frequent enough, if not so close to the border. The Sannin was prepared. He had located enough cover locations and prepared a specialized-tent summon for it. However, it looked like they were close enough to the caves he had picked out for the next camp site. It was fortunate that the storm came so late in the day.

He sent Shino back to tell Naruto they were going to move fast. Shino and Naruto began jogging to catch up to the group. When Naruto joined the group he went straight to the front where he could talk to Jiraiya about his jutsu.

"This isn't working, I needed more instructions than just make it pop." He complains. Jiraiya glanced back at him and shrugged. "It _was_ the fourth's technique. And he needed three whole years to perfect it."

Hearing this Naruto grew quiet. It was apparent he was considering the time it took a _Hokage_ to complete the jutsu. Then, he grinned, "Well, it sure won't take _me_ that long!" He declared. "I'm going to learn this jutsu in a _week_!" at that Jiraiya had to stop jogging in order to breath.

He himself had taken almost a year to learn it. But he had been in his prime then. He had also taught a young girl from the nation of the stone how to use it a few years back. That was when he had developed the balloon training. She had taken four months to get past the second stage, he still didn't know if she ever finished the third one. The thought of Tatsu-chan brought a small whisper of guilt to the old man. Their parting was one of the hardest things he had ever had to do.

Clutching his side, the gasping ninja grinned to cover the somber mood he had shifted into. "Naruto, you **might** pass the first stage in a week, but this isn't some monkey-see-monkey-do jutsu. And besides, when we reach Sunagakure you'll have to halt the training." He managed to continue chuckling as they began jogging again.

0o0o0

Once they reached the caves, they settled in. Jiraiya was the only one to bother with a tent. The rest just unpacked some bedding. Jiraiya attached glow sticks to the outside of his tent and they could also see the light of a lamp coming out of it. They dined on dry rations since they had no fire, and Naruto almost ate as fast as Haku. He was obviously eager to start training again. He set a shadow clone to training one of Gaara's clones in tai. Kankuro used his first puppet to spar with Gaara the original and he was able to work out the last few kinks.

In the confined space at the very back of the cave, Haku too resumes training. He was teaching himself how to manipulate his ice clone. Such as having it grow blades and needles out of its own ice. Or shifting its form to look like a different person. This one was tall and lanky, but his body rippled with a primal physique. He was wearing a large sword attached by a strap over his bare chest and he had winter camouflage sleeves over his arms and legs. His face was covered by bandages in the same way team seven's jonin wore a mask.

Then Naruto got an idea from the clone he had set sparing with Gaara's clones. He had been wondering why only one clone was going to teach Gaara. This made Naruto think, why was only one of _him_ trying to get this jutsu?

Going to the barrels he grabbed ten more balloons and filled them with water. He had used about thirty clones to get the makura bunshin _just_ right. And then using way more he had learned the kago bunshin in only a couple hours. Each one did the same thing but with different ways of going about it. Or each one could fix a part of the whole job. And when they dispersed he would know all the parts. Naruto decided to use that way now.

All of the bunshin began molding their chakra, he had made them with a sizable amount of chakra. Not as much as the big one but more than he had been using before. Each time one had an idea they would summon a clone and disperse it so the rest could try.

Eventually, the clone Naruto had set training Gaara's, had walked over and grabbed a water balloon too. He thought on what had happened and how the Rasengan formed. It had begun as a mass of chakra then he began spinning it. But that wasn't right. Jiraiya's Rasengan had moved in more than one direction. This took more focus, but he got it going and began moving the water in several directions. He had this going for about five minutes, increasing the speed of the chakra every so often. The balloon burst and it's water sprayed across the clone's face and jacket. It had worked. The key to the first step was moving it in more than one direction.

Once he realized that he released, and all the clones knew it. They all worked until each of them popped their balloons. But it seemed that some of them had way more trouble doing this than others, including the original. He and the rest of the clones left took almost ten minutes longer, but they still got it. And when the last clone released a message bunshin, he noticed that it was only the ones that used their left hands that had the trouble.

0o0o0

Naruto has cleared the first stage in less than _a_ _day_! Jiraiya was stunned, but it would figure that Naruto would be able to. Given the extreme advancements he had made since leaving the academy. He was obviously able to outdo the best of expectations. Jiraiya made a mental note to do something nice for Kurenai. Maybe he'd buy her some fancy lingerie.

"Well, I'm proud of you Naruto, you did really good getting this far so quickly." Jiraiya was beat. Watching Naruto work so hard was making him tired. "Tomorrow I'll show you the next step." He could work on that on the way back.

Naruto put on a stubborn look. "The nights not over, and I've only got another day or so, can't I start on the next part of the jutsu?" He wasn't whining, he sounded more serious than that. With a sigh Jiraiya pulled a blue rubber ball out of his pocket. "O.K. Naruto, since you finished the first step _so_ fast, I'll go ahead and start you on the second."

Naruto was plainly irritated "Enough with the steps! I want to try it out." Naruto put his hand out and grabbed his forearm with the left hand. Gathering his chakra.

"Naruto, you need to learn it in stages because that is the _fastest_ way to learn it. Right now your Rasengan wouldn't even scratch a puddle of mud." Naruto dropped his hands to his sides, and looked at the sage expectantly. Jiraiya wasn't sure if it was such a good thing that the brat's sensei had forced him to get smarter. He wouldn't have had to _explain_ this to Naruto when he was in the academy.

"The first step only got the form ready. Now you still needed to make it useable." He tossed the rubber ball to him. "_This _ball is at least 100 times harder to pop than the other one. First, you won't be able to feel your chakra move without the water. Second, it will take a lot more chakra to pop the denser rubber."

"I made these steps for a purpose. Step one, as you've realized, is to get the spin right. This step, is to add the power to it. Enough power to make it able to cut into things." Naruto nodded. He seemed to get it. Then he looked over at his clones. Jiraiya knew what he was thinking. That was a good trick, but it would only get in the way now. So he just shrugs, "I only brought that one," he lied. With a look of regret Naruto dispersed the clones and starts molding chakra.

0o0o0

Naruto walked over to the spot he had designated his 'training corner' and began shaping the chakra. The old man had been right. It was way harder to focus the chakra, almost twice the difference in control as he had between his hands. But what if he used both hands. It was harder to control it with his left hand but he had done it. So adding his other hand would cut the difficulty in half. He put his left hand over the ball. And began focusing his chakra down both arms. It helped but it also reduced the amount he was putting in. so he pushed as much through as he could.

He was faintly aware that Kankuro had gone to bed and Temari had started reading vocally, but in total his focus was devoted to his chakra. It was only about an hour later when the ball blew a hole in it. It hadn't popped, there was just a tiny opening in the side. The sound, however, had vibrated off the walls. Once it had quieted, Naruto realized the cave was silent.

Naruto stretched and walked over to the main area of the cave, where Jiraiya had set up his tent. The tent was dark, but the glow sticks still kicked out plenty of light. He glanced around to see who all was still up. Shino and Haku had gotten a leather scroll board out and were playing shogi. Temari was reading a book to Gaara. The childlike genin sat in her lap and leaned his head back on her shoulder. Naruto would have never thought such a butch girl would have cuddled with _anyone_ like that. She had gotten more and more mushy ever since they left.

Naruto stepped up to Jiraiya's tent. The old man wasn't snoring so he couldn't have been asleep. But before he could announce his triumph, the Sannin opened the door flap and stepped out.

0o0o0

Jiraiya was visibly shocked. How could it be possible? Even Tatsumaki had taken a month to pop a hole in the rubber ball. Yet, Naruto had done it in less than _two hours_! He didn't think Naruto would fake it but asked for one more demonstration anyway.

He pulled out a yellow ball and tossed it to him. Seeing the extra ball Naruto glares at him "You liar! You said there was only one ball." Jiraiya waved a finger at him "No this one's yellow. That one was blue. And I only had one blue one." He said it as if that was explanation enough. Naruto tried to push it further but Jiraiya just told him if he really didn't want to learn it… and let the statement hang. Naruto grudgingly relents. "Besides, using clones at the same time might split you focus." He just _had_ to add on to it.

With the ball in his right hand Naruto placed his left hand just above it. His face was a mixture of effort and determination. There was a snap and a whoosh from the ball as a hole burst out one side.

Jiraiya was still having trouble believing it. And when the Sannin heard a gasp from the on looking genin, he realized just how far his mouth had dropped. Due to certain of his toad jutsu he was able to open his jaw far wider than natural. It _**was**_ one of the genin who had gasped.

Closing his mouth, the toad monk cleared his throat. "Naruto, you don't even realize how impossible what you just did was."

0o0o0

Naruto was surprised at what the Sannin had just said. He sat down without even noticing. "umm, ok." That was all he could think of. It wasn't every day that a legend told you, you just did something they thought to be impossible.

"Are you ready to call it quits for the night or do you want to continue?" Naruto realized that Jiraiya was asking him a question. "Yeah, I want to continue." He leapt to his feet ready to see the third step.

Jiraiya reached in his vest and pulled out a brush. "Well then, hold out your hand" Naruto complied. And the Sannin flicked the brush over it. "The rest of this step should be much easier." That was a setback. Naruto had thought he had passed the second step. But he guessed he was supposed to make the ball pop all the way.

Naruto looked at his hand to see what Jiraiya did. He had painted a small spiral on it. "What is this going to do?" He asked.

"It's a hint." Jiraiya held out a piece of paper, "You see this?"

"Yeah."

"What do you see?" He saw paper. What was he supposed to see?

"It's a piece of paper?" Naruto didn't get this explanation.

Jiraiya turned around and painted on the paper. Then he held it up again. "Now what do you see?"

"Now it has a spiral on it. So?" It was the same spiral that Jiraiya had painted on his hand. But putting it on a piece of paper didn't tell him what it was for.

"Which feature of the paper did you initially perceive each time?" Jiraiya's neck seemed to jerk at Shino, as if he couldn't tell Shino had walked up. Naruto knew that his quiet teammate could stalk, but maybe Jiraiya was just out of his game because Naruto had woke him up. Naruto could have sworn that behind that high collar the Aburame was smiling.

0o0o0

Shino had halted his game of shogi when Jiraiya had gasped. He had tried to resist his curiosity when Naruto' training resulted in a loud reverberation echoing throughout the cave. But, the Sannin declaring Naruto had done the impossible got the better of him.

"Well bug boy, I guess since you've already figured it out, maybe you should clue this idiot in."

Shino had realized that to eavesdrop would plausibly offend the wizened elder. His reaction had been a little underestimated. The inclusion was not wholly unexpected though. "When you viewed the paper the first time, you perceived it as one complete object, I assume?" He gave the pause to see Naruto nod. "But, the second time it is more probable that your attention was directed towards the spiral, before you perceived the paper in its entirety. Was it not?" Naruto took a moment before answering. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, his face hinting at a sneer.

Shino realized once more, that his vocabulary played a role in the less literate boy's confusion. This could be resolved two ways; teach Naruto a more precise way of speaking, or abandon his own precision when trying to instruct him. The option was redundant. He would have had to perform the later of the two in order to accomplish the first.

With an effort he suppressed his frustration and simplified his statement. "Did you look at the spiral first or after the rest of the paper?" Shino had no desire that such simplification become expected of him. Even so, Naruto's answer was immediate. "I looked at the spiral first."

This was sufficient. Naruto understood the paper explanation. Now to apply his understanding to the jutsu. "In the way your attention was drawn towards the spiral, having painted it on your hand, it must be meant to draw your attention as you shape your chakra."

A look of apprehension passed across the chuunin's features. Naruto's reaction, once he understood the point of the spiral, was to turn toward Jiraiya and asked for another ball.

Shino left him to his training and rejoined his game with Haku. After a fifth game, started at the conclusion of the one which had been interrupted, the mist shinobi retired. He listened to Temari read for less than half an hour before retiring as well. Naruto was still training with the red ball when he passed into unconsciousness.

0o0o0

When Temari found an acceptable stopping place she closed the book and set it down. Gaara lifted his head and glanced back. Slipping out of her arm he moved off her lap. His sister was ready for some sleep. Her drooping eyelids were forced open and she had a lazy smile. She wavered as she stood and brushed herself off. As she walked over to the area the suna had chosen as their sleeping place she looked back at Gaara and paused mid-step. "Good Night, Gaara," she was smiling at him in a weird way. It was close to the look she gave when grateful for something. "Sleep well sister," he replied. With that she settled herself in her blankets.

He would remain awake, as he had lived for years with little sleep at all and he was used to it. But he wasn't bored. He entertained himself by watching Naruto concentrate.

Naruto focused and worked on the rubber ball jutsu well into the night and into the early morning. Finally at what Gaara guessed to be three hours before dawn. It exploded with loud crack. Thousands of shreds of rubber fluttered about. Surrounding Naruto in a haze of red. An image that Gaara recognized. Through the haze Gaara saw Naruto's eyes roll up into his head. He toppled forward and dropped, right onto the sand Gaara had rushed under him.

Gaara followed after his sand, kneeling beside the unconscious chunnin, Gaara put one of his arms over his shoulders and lifted. He half carried, half dragged Naruto to the spot where he had set up his bedding

Then, taking extreme care, He laid Naruto down in his bedding and covered him up. Tucking the blanket in under the little blond boy, the way Temari had done for him on several occasion since his first real sleep.

Everybody had been woken up by the explosion and they were surprised at how gentle Gaara was being. He hadn't used the sand to lift Naruto either, for fear of getting sand in Naruto's blankets. Jiraiya took one astonished look out of his tent and went back in.

0o0o0

When they woke up the storm was over. Naruto was still asleep, he had woken up quickly every other morning so that he could do his morning stretches. This time though, Jiraiya told them not to wake him up. That meant they had to be silent. All around the ground were slivers of rubber. Jiraiya had gotten over his initial shock. He had never thought Naruto could finish it so soon. He had expected him to work on the first stage the whole trip. Now as he looked at the floor of the cave, he decided this miracle brat was too unpredictable to guess his limits. One thing was certain, Naruto needed rest. Naruto may not have realized it, but his hands had been burned from such intense chakra use. He was really the most extraordinary kid that Jiraiya had ever seen.

Instead of leaving, they just had a large breakfast. Jiraiya had caught several snakes and had used a summoning jutsu for firewood to cook them. Each time anyone complained about being bored or something else Gaara glared at them. He radiated killing intent when Haku remarked that Naruto had become a liability by working him self into a stupor. He only calmed down after Temari sat behind him and began messaging his neck.

Shino finished the last of the books. Looking over at the sleeping boy, he suppressed a sigh. Naruto might not be comfortable knowing he had delayed their mission. The desolate boy handed Temari the last of the books. Still scratching Gaara's back, she read it to him. But he seemed more focused on Naruto.

Shino considered telling Naruto his findings over the weeks of the reconstruction. But he sustained his previous conclusion. To mention it would only cause Naruto unwarranted distress. He must have noticed how Hinata had changed, and there was the possibility that he already knew. Shino didn't know what she had told Naruto when she was in the hospital, but it had saved the Hyuuga bastard from a well deserved death. Shino had seen how conflicted Naruto had been over it, during the month before the tournament. And after she began living with Kurenai-sensei, their Hyuuga teammate had changed. It was gradual, and Naruto seemed to keep up with it. But she had changed _deeply_ in that time. Shino had detected something very wrong with her. Deep in her subconscious was something he could only get a glimpse of. Something dark. Something dangerous. That may have been what she had told Naruto. Still, he hadn't had an inkling of it before her apology.

He knew how bad it must have been for her in the Hyuuga compound. Aside from what he and Naruto had discovered, he had determined the emotional abuse she went through, by the knowledge of what little was needed to improve her mental state. Simple things like knowing they considered her worth the effort, had altered the very way she spoke. The way she walked and how she trained. Shino wondered how much she will change while they are gone. Naruto had changed so much after his life was reformed.

He realized that she and Naruto had so much in common that it was astounding. Now that he made the connection he saw the exact same changes between them. As well, he recognized the same patterns of disparagement littered throughout Kurenai's career. It seemed that team eight was a team of the scorned. What made him fit in? He was in a prominent clan. And he had never been subject to the treatment they suffered, but he _was_ an oddity. Isolated as were most Aburame children, but raised with the emotional stimulation of an outsider. There were times when his emotions outweighed his logic during his earliest childhood memories. He had long since left them behind. Yet, when Hinata had been hurt, his emotions had run wild. He was certain that if Hinata had died, he would've been right there with Naruto in an attempt to kill Neji on the spot.

0o0o0

Naruto woke up, oddly, in his own bedding, fully clothed too. The cave was brightly lit from the afternoon sun. He was extremely surprised at how long they had let him sleep. It was already past noon. Well, at least he wasn't woke up by that stupid frog again. The thing had hit him on the nose with a spoon when he told it to shut up. Shifting out of his blankets, Naruto sat up. His fingers tingled, not from his alarm or sleeping on them either. Naruto looked at his hands. They were shaking, probably from all the training.

"Naruto-san did you sleep well?" Gaara was sitting a couple meters away. He looked concerned. Everybody did. The tent flap opened and Jiraiya stepped out.

"Heheheh, Naruto, you might just prove your bragging true." Well, _he_ was in a good mood. With another glance at his hands, Naruto got up and started packing his things.

0o0o0

For the rest of that day they just walked. He had cost them half a day. Naruto would have thought they would be trying to catch up the time. But instead they just walked. Nobody spoke, and he didn't train. Haku didn't even ride the kago bunshin. And Jiraiya had sealed all but one of the water barrels in one of his various scrolls. They all just walked.

They stopped for the night just as the sun's last rays vanished over the horizon, and Naruto began the third step. He had to not blow up an air balloon. He felt the pull the spiral had created. It did as Shino had said and drew his chakra towards the center of the molded chakra. This created a current in the chakra. It evened out the many different directions. It made the jutsu's power so much more efficient that it burst the rubber ball completely. Now Naruto had to contain it.

He had gotten close but it kept popping. It seemed that each time his chakra released from one of his tenketsu points the thing popped. Then he figured out what it was. The Kyuubi's chakra. He had been able to tune it out when he learned to walk on water and after that he had just done it without thinking. But why did it get in the way with this? Each time he felt himself tune out the red chakra the balloon burst. If the chakra got to it, it burst. And in order to put in his max power he had a lot of the red chakra slipping through. Each time he was able to hold the red chakra out, the Rasengan lost its swirl and collapsed.

Frustrated he resorted to telling the pervert monk. Jiraiya should be able to figure it out. He walked back to the camp area. Haku and Kankuro were out on the other side. Kankuro and his puppets fought off two koori bunshin. They circled a long stone pillar that stuck out of the sand.

Shino sounded like he was attempting to teach Gaara how to play shogi. He was failing too. They sat next to the fire pit with the leather scroll board between them. Temari sat beside them and translated the Aburame's words into a language Gaara could understand. They looked at him as he walked up but didn't stop what they were doing.

This time Jiraiya wasn't in his tent. He too was training. On the top of the column out in the sand. It narrowed into a point and balanced on the point was a square platform. The Sannin was meditating on the platform. It was something to do with remaining absolutely still.

"Hey, **Ero-Sannin"** The two training shinobi moved back and held a standstill. Both of the risked a look at the sage towering above them. The unmoving shinobi remained silent. His form hidden from the light of the campfire. "**Hey!** _geezer!_ I need to talk to you."

There was a groaning from somewhere and the column began to sink, until the platform finally touched ground. There he sat, cross-legged with his palms pressed together in front of him.

"This had better be important whelp." The Sannin's eyes widened, "You didn't finish did you?"

"Nah, I just need some advise about the chakra flow." Jiraiya scratched above one ear ruffling his white mane. "Naruto, you have to figure it out on your own. That was the point to the steps." Wasn't the point to the steps to make it faster? That didn't matter. "Not the chakra flow for the jutsu. The one you examined when we first met." Did he have to spell it out for the senile old bastard.

Jiraiya stood abruptly. _Finally, he gets it_, Naruto thought. "Well, I guess it's about time you started learning some of that too." the Sannin strode through the camp to the area where Naruto had been training. Naruto had little choice but to follow.

Rubbing his hands together the Sannin began. "So what did you need to know?" Did he actually sound eager?

Well, I need to know how to suppress the Kyuubi's chakra. It's getting in the way." Jiraiya nodded and crossed his arms. "Mind explaining _how_ it's getting in the way"

Naruto told him about how Hinata had discovered the bits of chakra running down his legs when he tried to water walk. And how he had stopped them from disrupting his other jutsu. He finished by telling him how the Kyuubi's chakra was affecting his control of the Rasengan.

After he told Jiraiya about this, the old man thought. It was easy to see he hadn't considered this. Finally Jiraiya let out a heavy sigh. "Naruto, I think you may have just hit a wall. You won't be able to control the Rasengan until you can control the Kyuubi's chakra. That will take, even you, years to learn. And not just because it takes time, but also because you still need to develop some more."

"So what Jiraiya-sensei, does this mean I _can't_ do the Rasengan?" He was supposed to control the Kyuubi! That was insane. Didn't Jiraiya say that the bastard fox could influence him?

"No Naruto, only until you have gained some bearings on you career as a jinchuuriki, it shouldn't take too long. Maybe three or four years." Three or four _years_! Not _too_ long! Did all jinchuuriki learn this? Maybe he could do it. But he wasn't sure.

Naruto and Jiraiya spent the next hour discussing the skills of a host. He needed to start training soon. And Jiraiya explained that all of the tailed beasts had different benefits, like Gaara's sand protection. The Kyuubi gave Naruto a regenerative ability. It was the reason he healed quickly, but when used properly, Naruto would be able to sustain _mortal injury_ and keep going. At the end of the conversation they decided to start developing Naruto's control over it once they returned to the village.

0o0o0

It was still dark when troupe had risen. They made their way to the suna village at a quick jog, quietly slipping though the desert. As the sun finally peaked out on the horizon, they could see the base of a mountain jutting out of the sand. The Sannin, halted the jog and began descending the sand dune ahead of the rest. Kankuro and his siblings were home. He turned to the escort, "We're here. _This_ is the village hidden in the sand."

* * *

- Note -

The reason Temari has been, well... infatuated, with Gaara, is mainly because she see's him more as her own child after having to take care of him during the month of their detainment. During that time, he made several actions, (do to being asleep half the time) that she found adorable.

Kurenai was basing Hinata's equality to Shikamaru intalect wise, on only asuma's bragging and his display at the exam. Her study of him in the acadamy produced a negitve opinion in that area as he was always being lazy. So she had no clue how smart the Nara boy really was. Therfore she asumed hinata would be a match for him.

Naruto's long distance clone talking resulted from him wandering why his clones didn't get memories too. Once he realized what he could do with it he would work on it until he figured out a way for a clone to decide which clone the memories go to.

His single clones don't split his entire chakra, they only split out the amount he puts into the jutsu. So he can use that amount and then regain the rest. However the Tijuu Kage Bunshin (many shadow clone) split that amount between themselves. And he has a variation of this, that will level theirs with his remaining amount of chakra.

Naruto figured out the first stage on his own because his eye's had sped up during his training with Gai and Lee. This allowed him to see how the Rasengan formed as it was forming. And his chakra control was vastly superior to canon. Hint... he can make normal image clones.

The reason Naruto passed the second stage so fast was because of the training he had just done with his clones. The use of so much chakra and that fact that he had at least triple the chakra levels he had in the canon, he was able to utilize more chakra for this than the jutsu required.

I used the red chakra as his problem because it was logical. If it were due to the sheer mass of chakra then his increased focus would have overcome it. As with the second stage. And in chapter 4 when Hinata is helping him learn how to walk on water. She reveals that he has little bits of red chakra flowing through him. This was a convenient way to keep the obstacle.

p.s.

Sorry it took so long to get this out. I had it almost proof-reading ready months ago...

But since then, till now, I have been struck by lightning (frying my laptop). And racking up a load of medical bills. I found myself unemployed and stuck in a rut with no internet to speak of. I had to move in with my grandparents: Who think I'm to old for cartoons like Naruto.

I didn't even think about writing anything for quite some time. Finally I wrote it all on paper, having to revise by starting over from the beginning. The only computer I have been around in the last few months was the ones at the library - from where I am uploaded the first version of this chapter.

This is the edited chapter after all of the suggestions I have received from the public.

But enough excuses you won't believe. It might take a while but I will get a new computer and from all the written notes I've taken I will be posting more than one chapter at a time if I'm lucky.

Stay tuned for the next chapter - **Something happens!**


	3. The Results of Hard Work

SAND

**The Results of Hard Work.**

_For the Sake of Pain_

- Forenote -

This chapter has been revised and I have revised the last chapter posted due to the suggestions I have had. I am still in need of a beta. Sorry to make you wait.

* * *

Hinata sat across from Shikamaru, his eye's barely moved. He was looking at her face and not the wooden shogi board between them. He moved his silver general in front of her rook. She moved her gold general up a space where it could be taken by his bishop. Watching his face to see if any expressions changed. It was blank. And somehow still exasperated. He had to take one of them. And he would lose the other one.

Pushing back his chair the tall genin stood up. "This is a waste of time. If you're not going to actually _play_, go do something else."

Hinata didn't know what she had done to offend him. Was there some insult in the way she placed her pieces? Staring at the tiles she stood as well. "Gomen,"

"Don't be such a bother, I have more _enjoyable _ways to waste my time." He had not only rejected her apology, but also insulted her in one statement. She stared after him as he walked down the porch steps and across the lawn.

"You shouldn't have thrown the game." Ino had watched the game and knew why she was confused. "Even if you knew you were going to lose, you could have at least tried to recover. Losing you bishop after your second turn wasn't such a defeating loss. It isn't like that was the only piece that's useful."

Hinata eyed the slender blond gabbing away about how the game hadn't been a lost cause. From what she remembered about Ino from the academy she was as obsessed with Sasuke as Sakura, but nowhere near as mean. That may have just been because she didn't want to get dirty though.

On the other hand she had also fought with Sakura several times, ending with their match at the exam.

"But I guess he _is_ way too skilled at shogi for it to be fair. I would really like to see how Sasuke would do. Sakura-baka would probably just call him the winner the moment he sat down. I'm not as stupid as she is. For having the highest score on the written exam she _isn't _very smart."

O.k. So Ino was a little mean, but she was right too.

"Yeah, I would give him maybe fourty to eighty turns. Somewhere in there, before he lost. Really, the point of playing against Shikamaru isn't to win. It's to last as long against him as you can. Even Asuma-sensei can't win."

"_Really!_ Not even your **jonin**-sensei can beat him?" If he was _that_ good then there was no way she'd ever beat him. Forty to eighty turns, she had only lasted fifteen.

"No, but he has lasted over a hundred turns a few times, the only person I know whoever wins against him is his dad and they're just about even now. Think how good he'll be in a few years. He might even make jonin on his shogi skills alone."

0o0o0

It took two days, but Hinata finally got the courage to challenge him again.

During the day before when she had come here to train she had only done the basic chakra control. The others had been working on the same things since the invasion. Right now Choji was the only one that couldn't water walk and Ino was able to water walk while using chakra to hover leaves over her palms and forehead at the same time.

Asuma-sensei had made her advance at this as far as she could. She found out that she was able to lift a leaf over each major part of her body. The Jonin didn't stop there though. He had made her try walking across the water while doing this. Hinata had barely lifted her foot before the majority of the leaves fell, floating down to the water that she stood on.

If she kept up at this, she would be able to strike with her jyuuken from even her _armpits_ if she had to. He had made her hold leaves there too. It would be one of the _most _unexpected assaults ever made in the history of jyuuken.

She looked at him from across the board. She had lost one of her silver generals to his far left pawn and her bishop was poised to take his.

He moved his silver general diagonally back towards him. She withheld her bishop from taking the bait. She wouldn't be lead into the trap.

Instead she moved a pawn forward to make room for her rook to pass. He took her knight with his rook and she moved her bishop to take the rook.

When his promoted pawn took that she hit it with her gold. Only to lose it to his king. While she placed his old lance direct to take the king.

Then he placed her bishop against her in front of his turned lance and put her in check. Two more moves and the check was checkmate.

"_Wow _Hinata! You lasted almost sixty turns! I have never made it that far." Hinata beamed at the blond. She had made it with in the estimated 'Sasuke zone.' The kunoichi had been very helpful in getting her courage back. At first she was just too embarrassed that she had thrown the game. Then she had spent the rest of the day training. And yesterday Shikamaru hadn't even talked to her, as it was 'bothersome' to train with someone who wanted to fail.

0o0o0

Umino Iruka looked over his new shop. It was located at the far end of the market district. He had been having a hard day. First thing this morning he was given trouble by Konohamaru. Then he had been sent for by the Hokage. After explaining how every domestic pet in the village had ended up at the academy, He had to walk with Konohamaru to return each one. That had taken all day. At least with Naruto he had never had to apologize to more than a dozen people per prank.

As the evening passed he planned out his use of the shop. He wasn't allowed to alter anything as of yet, but after the monthly council meeting he would be ready to get to work. It would help if he already had an idea of what he wanted to do with it. He was thinking he could be a retail ninja supply. He would get his tools from Tenten's dad and the clothing from other places. He would have to draw up a contract with several other shops so he could begin selling all the required gear except the specialized ones in a single location. That would bring in way more customers. Meaning that shop owners could put all their time into the repair jobs and special orders. And he would give the academy supplies a discount.

It was a great idea. But one that wouldn't be accepted easily. Most didn't even make the supplies until they were needed. Even then, he would have to assure them that he wouldn't work with his clients' competitors. And the idea of combining their shops was completely foreign. Most shops only marketed one or two product lines. Konohamaru had given him the idea when he sent him to pick up replacements for all the tools he destroyed in an attempt to make a shrapnel tag.

He still needed to pick out the best shops for his idea. Although, it was narrowed down considerably when he decided to only deal with shops that weren't hostile towards Naruto.

0o0o0

Hyuuga Neji watched as his former teammate nodded in acceptance of his task. They stood halfway around the wall from the village entrance. Lee was waiting to move on, while he caught his breath. Lee had removed his weights in avoidance of Neji. Again Neji felt the cold demeanor he had earned. The normally loud and enthusiastic genin was suspicious and thoughtful for once.

Neji had watched her as closely as he could in the last two days. His young cousin had been hiding her progress from Hiashi-sama. Actually getting a good look, he realized that although she had not been his equal in the match, her chakra coils were larger than his. He decided this was caused mostly by the weighted training. Well, now he understood the reasons behind her useless efforts in taijutsu. It was just as well that he would be running the perimeter from now on.

She had worked hard to recover from what he did to her. He admired the determination she'd shown. Her pure-hearted effort was the only reason he lived now. He wouldn't allow it. She deserved better than what was in store. He refused to let it happen.

0o0o0

The dark and beaten Hyuuga woke up that day in the hospital. Five days ago. His uncle sat in a chair with his eyes closed and his arms crossed as he meditated. He must have realized Neji had awoken, and began to speak. "Nephew, we must discuss your place in the clan."

This was it. Now that his seal could not be replaced, he was going to be dealt with, in a more extreme fashion. Possibly death or imprisonment. He prayed for exile, at least as a blind man, his hearing would allow him some form of mobility, and if he worked at it long enough he could always join the anbu.

"Neji, I did not condone your father's death." He was blunt and to the point. "Not any more than you are responsible for your placements in the exam." He could only stare at the bastard. How could he _deny_ it? Hiashi gave a heavy sigh. An expression that he would never have displayed in public before.

"I despise your father for his betrayal. He not only went against my orders but also the clans honor. That day," This was infuriating, was he going to sit there and insult the man he murdered?

"That day I killed Hinata's kidnapper, I thought only of her safety. When they demanded my life or war, I chose war... _Neji_, I wanted _the war_. They had assaulted my daughter and offended the village and our clan. They deserved our wrath and the council was prepared to deal it out, to send our forces back to battle. But your father..., he was too weak to face another war. To preserve _this_... _peace_, he betrayed us and went against the clan. Only to hand his body over to the cloud in my place. Against _my_ orders."

Neji was stunned. The knowledge that his father had gone against the clans wishes to sacrifice himself, it struck him. He felt his anger slacken and he felt a small pride that his father had escaped. However it also brought to question, _why_? Why had his uncle never told him this? Why just let him hate all that time, under the impression that Hiashi had murdered his father?

"As much as I despised him," The stone faced Hyuuga continued. "He was still my brother. His death was the greatest loss I have ever felt. Greater even, than that of my wife's death. When he died, it almost destroyed me."

Neji looked at his uncle in a new light. The clan head had never admitted weakness of any kind. But now Neji understood his anger. Although he still hated the elder, his hate was no longer so passionate.

"I think I understand."

Relief washed over his uncle as his shoulders visibly relaxed. "Neji, I failed to see your strength for too long. You did not fail at the exams out of weakness, but because of my failure to see. You and I hold ourselves with the same strength. You did better against _that trash _than could have been expected."

Pride? Neji was sure he was misreading his uncle's expressions.

"I wish for you to become stronger than you are. It is your place to be among the strong. Tomorrow, you will begin training in all of the main family techniques. You are to be my contingency. Should I die before Hanabi is ready, then I will want you to be able to manage the clan until she is."

"What? Uncle? I... Thank you?" Was he serious? Of course he was, he always was. But to have a chance at leading the clan after all he had done?

"Hiashi-sama? What of everything I have done? I should not even live at this moment. I assaulted Hinata-sama in the preliminaries, and when I lost to Uzumaki, I was sure he would kill me for hurting her. Now, with my seal disrupted... I should have been killed or exiled from the clan?"

He continued to search for reasons he didn't deserve this. But the pupil-less eyes gazing upon him blinked. "Neji, your assault of Hinata was warranted. You recognized the places of the weak and the strong. Hinata was weak and disgraced the clan. You, Neji, were strong. Your defeat of her and your defeat in the tournament are nothing to be ashamed of."

Neji considered this. He was strong, but he had lost to Naruto. Did that make Naruto strong too? But Naruto had been the dead last. That meant Naruto had changed his fate. Naruto had been right. Then why had he been spared?

"I will do everything needed to protect the clan. I owe my life to a debt that cannot be paid, and I will pay that debt."

With that His uncle stood and turned to leave. "Neji, your cousin will always be weak. And the weak will never succeed to the head of the clan. It is time she was made aware of it." He stood in the doorway as he spoke, his voice quiet and tempered. "She will soon return to the Hyuuga compound. When she is, you will give her the formal apology required by the Hokage. Then she will receive her proper place as a branch family member."

He stepped out and closed the door behind him.

0o0o0

Neji had had to know why he lived. So, that afternoon he checked himself out of the hospital, and began looking for Naruto. Now that he knew, what she had done for him; He couldn't bear to see Hinata wear the caged bird seal.

He had taken it upon himself to, as Naruto had said, look out for her. This would begin with a warning whenever a member of the Hyuuga clan would be watching her. He had begun taking a lap around the village with Lee in the mornings, just so he would have the opportunity to give the warning. he owned his life, not to the Hyuuga clan but to one Hyuuga girl.

Yesterday his uncle had been furious with the Hokage for his little trick and he wanted to deal with it today. Neji knew that Hiashi would examine her before the meeting. That meant he had to warn her to hide her true health. And Lee was sure to relay his message. He'd better... Neji had had to keep up with him without weights. A small price, but still difficult.

0o0o0

"Your attention please!" Said a nameless clerk. "Shall we begin our monthly congress? Regarding today's itinerary: The progression of our village is presumably completed. We must discuss the budget alterations due and assign a new budget. Then we shall address any new concerns or petitions."

He nodded toward the village elders. "We must address the many disputes to the results of the exam. Including the protest of several _bets_ placed on it." The disdain in for gambling was strong in his voice. "Finally, of a lesser priority, we must discuss the location of the Hokage's successor."

That clerk sat down and another one stood up. "To begin, I would like to ask Gowabara-san, of the Moneychangers Guild, to give a statement on our budget for the reconstruction. We have very little supplies remaining."

Hizuren Sarutobi sat in his raised seat, the village elders were to either side of him. With his new assistant Kurenai standing immediately beside him. The several collective jonin and civilian members of the council sat before him.

As he listened to them drone over boring numbers and figures he thought back on the conversation he had five days ago. He had wanted to make sure Naruto knew how to act formally in the presence of the Suna leaders and Naruto had told him that he learned all the formalities he would need from Hinata, Who promptly blushed.

The old man sighed. He just couldn't see it. If sitting through one of _these _meetings was the prerequisite to becoming the Hokage, Naruto would most assuredly fail.

"With that our budget should be recovered enough to reset the mission payment to its normal rate in one week on the tenth. Thus finalizing the completion of the repairs."

Maniki Gowabara sat and the previous clerk stood. "Before we move onto the results of the exam, I believe the honorable Hyuuga clan has a pressing matter to resolve."

This was it, Hiashi would now make with the whining.

"The matter I wish to discuss is the return of my daughter to the Hyuuga clan. She has been withheld from the clan for over a full month since being discharged from the hospital. I have requested her return from the Hokage; However he appears to be inclined to continue this... obstruction. At the insistence of his new assistant I'm sure."

The Aburame spoke "His assistant is the girl's sensei. Therefore taking her word at withholding the Hyuuga girl is reasonable. The question that I find needs asked, is why would this be problematic?"

"He's right. I see no reason to make a fuss about this. The girl was badly hurt, it would be wrong not to give her extra time to heal." Inuzuka woman agreed.

"She is not a mutt nor is she an emotionless drone. To coddle her this way would create a lax attitude that will not be acceptable from my successor." Hiashi spoke with a cold tone that tempted both of the clan heads to rise with the baiting. "My daughter's sensei has already given her permission to be absent from her clan instruction and has encouraged her to laze when she should be improving herself. I have conceded her the missed training sessions because it was within her rights to make some alterations to her training. However this goes beyond simply interfering with my daughter's training."

The Aburame leaned forward letting his glasses catch and reflect the light. "My son is under the same jonin. He has not neglected his training. Perhaps you have been pushing her too hard. _This _would also explain Yuuhi-san's decision to keep her for an extended time."

"And your son is not a _Hyuuga_." Hiashi glanced at kurenai and then looked back at the council. He was planning something. "I am certain most of you are aware of her past actions towards the Hyuuga clan. I am also certain that this entire issue is related to those actions. Yuuhi Kurenai has made public her disdain for the Hyuuga clan, _and_ she specifically requested _my _daughter. Now the Hokage has even given her a position of authority above most of the Hyuuga clan. She has already looked into the records of the Hyuuga bloodline and estates, as well as several other confidential file's since taking this position."

So that was it, discrediting her and by association, his judgment. Sarutobi shot a quizzical look at Danzo who sat there silently. He could almost see the sneer in his eyes, though it didn't truly show. He would use this.

"Clearly she has been attempting to continue with her harassment of my clan. Utilizing my daughter as a way to get back at the Hyuuga for an imaginary conspiracy concocted to shift the blame of her failures onto the clan. It was a mistake to have granted her an opportunity like this. Why then does the Hokage still allow her to hold my daughter as a hostage?"

That was it; he had just accused the Hokage of inciting bias regarding a major clan. "Hiashi-gaki, I hope you understand what you have just said." Koharu's voice was low, but when she spoke the others merely listened harder. "You speak above yourself by making accusations"

"I believe his concerns are reasonable however." Homura as well, spoke with a low voice, but he also spoke with condescension. Turning toward his teammate the other elder continued "It is not unknown that she holds bias towards the Hyuuga. Perhaps your decision to have her aide you was hasty. Maybe if it wasn't someone of such obvious liability."

This was just what Danzo needed. Hiashi brought it up before any of the major decisions were made, if he was discredited now, Danzo would have a clear path to take. He would be able to destroy most of what the Hokage had done to fix his mistakes.

"What exactly are we suggesting will fix this problem," Inochi Yanamanka asked.

"Well if I follow," Shikaku Nara raised his head to answered his blond teammate question. "They are suggesting that the Hokage needs a better assistant."

The larger jonin on Inochi's other side spoke up. "Aren't we getting a new Hokage in a few weeks anyway, why bother picking out a new assistant for our current one?"

"Because it also implies that they do not consider the Hokage capable of performing the mundane duties of his station without an assistant. Meanwhile, they are rejecting his choice of Yuuhi-san to fill this role. likely duo to the fact that who ever is in charge then, would be able to change the decision of the new Hokage, as well as take the position if one isn't found before the sandaime dies." The Aburame's lectured answer received a thud as the Nara clan head's head hit the mesh sleeve of his arms once more.

This wasn't good they had effectively routed his authority. If he didn't take control over this soon, they would be able to merely claim he had become incompetent and appoint a new Hokage without his say in the matter "Very well, it seems I am required to locate another assistant-" and was interrupted as Danzo finally made his move. No doubt cornering him.

"It would be better if this matter was resolved before we discuss any vital matters that could be affected by his decision."

Hamura nodded in agreement. "We will conclude that Kurenai-san is no longer his assistant, lets begin forming a list of potentially acceptable candidates."

"Very well, while you decide that, I will dismiss Kurenai-san."

0o0o0

There are several complaints to the results of the exam announced the next day. And the lack of Danzo's presence was no surprise. Not after the way he had been thwarted. Most of the complaints were argued by other civilians who previously had been saved by Naruto. Many of them remembered him building the village too. There was also the story going around that he had single-handedly stopped three of the main ninja from escaping, the story said that one of them had been an S-ranked jonin. Not too far off.

The meeting had gone well, after the Hokage had handled the attempted coop, he blatantly told Hiashi to stuff his whining and wait until Hinata was healthy. He then tore through all the problems with the exam as if they were the unwanted vegetables before desert. All of this she was hearing from him as she made breakfast for them both. After having been dismissed she suggested a way to win and left.

At that point she had the choice between going home to cry or to break something while pretending that it had an emotionless pupil-less bastard's face. She only lasted a little longer than her training post before slumping into an angry slumber.

She had already compiled plenty of data on what had been done to Naruto, so during her free time that night, she decided to look through it. The attack on his life when he was two was by a pair of kids, twins only a couple years younger then her. Tasodoki Yoake and Yuugure. They had named themselves the foxhunter twins. His caretaker had died protecting him. It was then that he was sent to the orphanage. After asking about it this morning, she got Sarutobi to tell her how Jiraiya had nearly killed them. Then he had to be stopped from making a rash action against the council. He claimed that they had told the twins where to find the baby. With breakfast done they left to attend the announcements.

For this she found the ability to dredge up _some_ respect for the pervert's protective actions. And it was proof that, true to his words, he had made sure to check up on Naruto. It was public knowledge that Naruto was a chuunin now. She wondered what those two would think of that.

0o0o0

Tenten felt sore more than anything else. _Gai and Lee are training with extra **youth** today_. Damn them. At the announcement that morning they were all happy about the results, Lee and him gave gushing declarations on how Lee would catch up to Naruto. Then Gai-sensei says its time Lee learned a jutsu; and her day became a test of pain endurance worse than she'd had since the second month of being a team. That was when lee had put on the horrid green outfit and began coping everything Gai-sensei did.

Lee thought Gai was joking when he said jutsu, but just leave it to Gai to break the entire idea behind common sense. "_**Yosh!**_ **Lee-chan, **Not all jutsu need chakra to control.** So long as you can control _your own strength_ with the _fires of youth_ there is always a way to perform_ amazing jutsu_.**" and with that they broke down into another tearful episode of _Gai-Lee_ love.

Now Lee was trying to quick jab a _fifth_ massive shield a thousand times in a single minute. (Her fourth one had broken ten minutes ago) But she couldn't care less. Why did _she_ have to be the one to hold the shield?

0o0o0

Kurenai and Hinata sat in a karaoke booth. Even though Naruto was on a mission, Kurenai felt they had to celebrate his promotion. This was a good chance to ignore the dread she felt for the next day.

Right now Hinata was singing, her voice was clear and smooth. The lung damage may have completely recovered. She sang a song about wishing to be seen, and one asking someone to let her be near them. Kurenai herself had sang a song that Mattai had once sang during karaoke.

Well, she had finally seen a teammate make chuunin. He would be a fine one, and given the time, Kurenai now fully believed he would become Hokage. It had been doubtful that the villagers would accept him, however strong he got. This morning had been the final testament. She had seen eight fights break out over Naruto's name. Sadly one little boy had to be moved to the local orphanage because the dispute between his parents had become violent.

Yet it still meant progress, Naruto would become Hokage, and that was it. Kobaru-sensei would have been proud.

Hinata sat down, she was smiling larger than Kurenai had seen before. At least not without blushing until she fainted.

Ordering another sake she got up and started to pick a new song.

0o0o0

Hinata had never been to one of these, she was really glad about the closed booths. What would her father think of this?

Kurenai-sensei began singing the words to a new song, Hinata didn't think she had been here in awhile either. There were tears in her eyes as she sang about a quest of life. Looking at the coaster Hinata noticed something written in sake. Team and then a smear of the alcohol covered the second word and the third was eight.

A new song began, and Kurenai downed another cup. This time she sang about a race where two out of three never finished, and the one who did didn't win.

Poor sensei, she must have come here a lot with her old teammates.

0o0o0

"Thanks again Iruka" As soon Teuchi set his food in front of him, Iruka dug in at a pace that Naruto would have been proud of. All bets had been settled yesterday and Iruka had had to distribute the winnings to his partners. But that wasn't why he was so hungry. Between slurps and gulps he explained, "I have been to almost every shop in Konoha and many of them twice thurt ish whah I decided to do. Anb Bereb MEH, spending a day henged as Naruto was one of the worst experience in my life."

He had been to several shops today many of them had thrown him out. Both during and after he used his henge of Naruto. He had made a lot of friends though. As it turns out, even after Naruto's promotion a lot of people still disliked him.

One clothing store did however catch on to it, because Naruto was on a mission. Apparently, Naruto was the mans first customer. He had hopes that since it was a desert trip he would come back in need of a new outfit "That outfit I made for him has more places to get sand than the desert itself" He said. When Iruka told him about the promotion he began designing a new chuunin vest.

Iruka would have to hire some of his academy students to move the merchandise every week or so. He would incorporate it into class as well. They would do everything as if it were a real mission. It was the perfect way to practice the mission protocol. He wanted to ask the Hokage if they could have fresh chuunin handle those to give them practice leading a team.

Ayame told him that the Hokage would like that idea. And asked if he would hire Naruto to do it. "Oh.. and I have the perfect set of genin to have _him_ lead, it'll be pay back for all the pranks he's pulled on me over the years. hehehe... let see how he likes dealing with a brat that won't behave!" His glee was cut short as he slurped down the last of his ramen. His second bowl finished he paid before leaving. As he headed home he decided to find Kurenai in the morning and tell her what he had learn in a day of the life as Naruto.

0o0o0

Kurenai's pounding head became all the more bearable when the old man reported in. He Looked bitter, even with out facial expressions. But he had earned his place by insulting the Hokage and the sandaime complied.

0o0o0

"We needn't go to the trouble of working through that list of yours. It would only delay the progress we need to be making right now. I believe this can be solved if I were to appoint _Danzo_, a trust worthy and relatively capable ally to be the assistant this council is requiring?"

Danzo would have never expected Hiruzen to suggest him. No doubt he would think he could now take the reigns but nothing would be handed over to him this idea was a way to monitor him and make use of him while securing a foot over him by authority. He wouldn't get to ruin anything.

After everybody had agreed, Danzo grudgingly nodded and he sprung the trap. "The appointed position will be temporary and will be terminated upon the arrival of my successor. As of now I may be too busy to make it official but you will be reporting directly to my _personal aide_ Yuuhi Kurenai the day after tomorrow."

The Hokage stopped there and watched as Danzo's face went from stone to steel but his cold eye burned with rage. He would not only have his plans postponed until after the majority of things were worked out but he would also be reporting to Kurenai there-in losing a considerable amount of authority. As well as causing all the paper work done to require her signature if it were a matter that the assistant wouldn't have needed sign before.

By naming her his personal aide instead of assistant she now spoke as the Hokage's voice. If he wanted he could have her do all but the most critical tasks. And as she was a personal Aide her position wasn't one of the village rather one of an elderly authority in the village. So they had no way to dispute her place.

To cap it off they could do nothing to change this setup now because he had made it too public, and already decided he would be the one. To try to change anything would be conceived as a power grab even from the civilians.

0o0o0

Now kurenai was going to use him to her advantage. He too, seemed to be quick about dealing with problems, as she began to set orders for him to locate Tsunade, he revealed the same trick the sandaime had used and handed her four files.

One over Tsunade, including her current position witch he should have revealed earlier. Apparently he considered her rogue. But it also included several distributing things about her past. Things she felt had been kept in confidence. But it explained why they couldn't find her. She had gone into the woods somewhere and wasn't even in a town. She probably just didn't want to have to come back as a medic to help with the battle. Too bad for her, she had just been drafted.

The second one was over his information on the Akatsuki. The one she had gotten from the third contained information on Oruchimaru of the Sannin, Uchiha Itachi and his associate Kisame Hoshigaki of the mist, one of the seven swords; and brief glimpses of unknown shinobi in the Akatsuki uniformed cloaks. Finally it described the general organization. And had several references to an entity known as Pein aka Leader-sama the reports had it that it was a group of like-minded shinobi, but had no evidence to support the existence of said entity.

Danzo's had much less projections and more hard facts, but it said most of the same. The main differences was that his included the identity of one Deidara and one Sasori. It also labeled Oruchimaru as an ex-member.

The third folder covered Naruto. He had known she would investigate the matter. Most she already had but some others she would study furiously. Such as the previous host. Naruto's mother! The third hadn't included that! Or the fact that seven different families had tried to adopt him and had been either harassed, threatened and one just plain kicked out of the village. Seven!

And several different assignation attempts, then there was the fact that the anbu had captured four different ninja attempting to study him. With out having actually done anything to him. All of them were dealt with badly.

It also included his medical history. She had gone through the hospitals already but they normally just put a bandage on him and kicked him out.

This file contained every injury he had sustained since he was placed in the orphanage. He had been run over by a manure cart when he was little. And he never even knew about it! He came to class a few days later and only then found out he'd missed class; during days he'd been unaware he'd lost. He had even disapeared for a time and nobody had any clue where.

More and more she read horrible things, things that she began to blame on the Hokage.

The final Folder was merely a documenting of missions reports with the names and other things blacked out.

0o0o0

Neji watched as Team Gai left. The green clad jonin and genin were shouting about their eagerness, causing Tenten to edge away wincing. He had not participated in any missions with them in over two months. They didn't miss him, nor should they. Unfortunately that left them short one member for any real missions. So where are they going now?

All but a rare few missions out of the village were C-rank or higher. If it was one of those few them surely team ten would have been assigned to it. Shikamaru's promotion almost required it. It was standard to send fresh chunin on external D-rank missions leading their genin teammates.

When they had left his view Neji turned back towards the Hyuuga compound. They would come back. Then he would try to make amends for his treatment of them.

* * *

-Note-

Hiashi's words. He said all of it in order to convince Neji that he deserved to be a main family any way (also Hiashi feels that he really would make a better heir than Hinata. and that was why he wasn't being exiled with his eyes removed. And by making it official that Hinata is a branch family member Neji's lack of caged bird seal can be accepted by the elders of the clan. (This will be explained better in a chapter or two.)

Neji's situation. He has had it proven beyond a doubt that fates can change and Hiashi's attempt at keeping him in line only re-enforced it. and he believes that Hinata will change hers if she isn't held back. He also thinks that helping her do that will help makeup for his crimes. and to repay her request to spare his life.

Lee hitting the shield, what tree would last 1000 of his quick jabs per every few minutes. And no I'm not going to tell you why he was doing that. You'll just have to wait until I have finished the big reveal.

Maniki Gowabara, the head of the Moneychangers Guild is mentioned in the original team 8 by S'TarKan

karaoke... I don't know any songs in this setting so don't ask for lyrics

The data on the akatsuki is mainly from Jiraiya and Itachi and Oruchimaru, don't forget, Danzo is still working with them.

I am glad to say I received several immediate suggestions and corrections, my ThanX go out to the public.

More is still welcome.


	4. Top Class Failures

SAND

**The Top Class Failures**

_For the Sake of Pain_

- Forenote -

Sorry about the wait, I know it took too long but I think that with the next chapter of this, I will be publishing the pilot chapters of some of my other fan-fictions.

* * *

Sakura trudged towards the cabin team ten trained at. Her anguish had slowly dissipated but it left her with an empty depression. It had happened again. They should have passed this mission; even if Kiba had carried him most of the way, but Sasuke had broken the opponent's leg. To add salt on the disqualification, once the race was over, someone _assassinated_ the ones that set it up. Finally they got to come home, _as failures_. _**Again!**_ Worse though, was the way Sasuke was acting. She knew how hard it must be for him. After having to do ... _that_. She _had_ told him not to use the weird mark again, but he used it anyway. And yet, he just seemed more arrogant. As if they were just there to slow him down.

And Kiba just wouldn't let it go. He kept telling Sasuke that he would have beaten the guy on his own, or that Sasuke needed to stop being such an arrogant jerk, or something like that. Sasuke only replied after several rude comments and told him he was too weak. He said that next time Kiba gets in the way he would kick his ass. This only made Kiba worse. For once, she just let them fight. Kiba was right, and even though she wished he wouldn't, she wasn't about to stop him from antagonizing _The Almighty Uchiha_. Kiba even saved her from drowning when they were attacked in the boats. While _Sasuke_ just barely made it out of the water on his own.

And the mission before that failed even worse. It was one they had gotten during the reconstruction due to the meager amount of missions they were taking. They had done way less missions than any other team. This one though, was an A-rank, they had to protect an actress. The one Kiba had a crush on. After she burnt down the boat, they gave up. Kiba had, again, saved Sakura from burning down with it and Sasuke had been lead on a wild chase.

Then there was the _disaster_ at waterfall, they had let the leader of the village die, as well as a-a little girl. She had died right there in Sakura's arms. Sasuke was hurt badly there and never even got to fight. She still didn't know how it happened. The enemy _must_ have ambushed him.

Sakura, was so lost in her depressed thoughts that Ino had to punch her a second time before she woke up. "Oh! Ino you ready?" It had been a while since they last spoke, almost since the invasion. That was why they decided to catch up after she returned from her mission. That and Kakashi-sensei had ordered her to take the day off.

"Lets go," Ino replied and turned her head back, "See you tomorrow Hinata."

Sakura hadn't even noticed the quiet Hyuuga meditating on the porch. As they walked away she asked about it. "So why is Hinata training with you guys all of a sudden."

"Its not sudden. She has been training with us for a whole week now. And why? Because her teammates are on a B-rank escort mission and she's still too injured to go."

"Oh. So when did they leave?"

"7 days ago, and they won't be back for a few weeks."

"And they just left Hinata with you guys?"

"No, their sensei stayed to continue her recovery training. But, she has other duties to perform during the month, and I think Asuma-sensei thought helping would get him ––."

"Wait! So it was just Shino and the _baka_?" Seeing the glare Ino shot at her, Sakura stop walking.

Continuing her glare the blond scolded her friend. "That _baka_ was _promoted to chunnin_ the day before yesterday. And he happens to be the one who saved all our asses from the giant sand monster that Gaara kid summoned up."

As pink adorned the pink haired girl's face as well, Ino silently thanked Hinata for not wanting to come. She could only imagine how Sakura would look when Hinata got done. To think even after he beat Sasuke, Sakura still thought Naruto was trash. She seemed to just pass it off as a fluke and tell Sasuke that he'd get him next time.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, they still hadn't decided where they were going to eat, but instead Sakura just followed Ino to the first place they saw.

"So what's with you today, or since _then _for that matter?"

"What do you mean?"

"Sakura, you haven't said more then a hello to me since the attack. You didn't even say hi when you got back from that first mission. And ever since then, it's like you're just trying to brush me off. I thought we were going to be best friends again, right?"

"Sorry, Ino, it's just that I've been busy. We failed the last few missions we got and… and." What ever she was about to say died in her throat.

"Want to talk about it? Go ahead, just gab or even bitch if you want. I'll listen to what ever you need to say."

"It's all Sasuke's fault."

Now, that came out of nowhere. Ino looked at her re-best friend with her mouth agape. "Ok. Start from the beginning…."

"I don't want to blame him, but it is. He was the one who messed up all our missions. At the-the waterfall he-he was supposed to escape wi-with the leader, but he still died. And he was on guard duty when Y-Yukie-san got out, he didn't even put-put out the fire she lit and I was nearly _burned to death_, and he's the one who broke our opponent's leg. We were disqualified from the race. He-he even killed an unarmed man. He didn't know Kiba had disarmed him, _he didn't_, but he could have at least cared that he just killed someone. But no! All he does is act as if we don't exist or are getting in the way."

As Sakura babbled on about how mean Sasuke had been to them during the past month, Ino found herself starting to feel numb. Sakura had _never _admitted Sasuke could even do wrong, even she could see some things he messed up. But Sakura never, not once, accepted it. Sasuke could not lose in her eyes. He was a god to her. And yet here she was – If _she_ was saying it, then he must have done something horrible… Or maybe, it wasn't just _him_ she was blaming.

Swallowing Ino interrupted the flow of blame. "Sakura, have… have you made your first kill yet?"

There it was. She was quiet, her face pale and sick. But she shook her head. "I.. Bua." She choked back a sob.

Ino was by her side in an instant and slowly pulled her to her feet. Dropping a wad of cash on the counter she led her friend away. They needed to go somewhere Sakura could allow herself to let go and cry.

0o0o0

Kakashi let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding. It felt like he'd been holding it ever since he found her in the water fall village. It was supposed to be a simple riverside clean up. But he still should have stayed. Because he hadn't, one of his students paid with their innocence. He had tried telling himself that it would have happened eventually. But when she snapped at _Sasuke_… out of any of them he had expected her to be the first to forgive him for making a kill.

He had tried to find out what he had missed, but Kiba was the only one to talk. And he had been knocked out before the little girl died. Was it Sasuke who killed the girl? It would fit the wounds. Or did Sakura make her first kill? Sakura was the only one who had anything to tell and she hadn't said a word about what happened, _to anybody._

He followed as Ino brought them to a secluded area in the park and asked her again what happened.

And so Sakura wept of how she had been taken hostage and Kiba was beaten until he passed out from pain. Then of how the attackers had told Shibuki to come out. How they had beaten the little girl Sakura met. How when beating her didn't get him to come out, one of them used a jutsu to electrocute her and giggled – Giggled!—as the girl screamed and begged them to stop. When it was over, the girl's flesh had been so burned she didn't survive. She had died weeping in pain as Sakura tried to help.

Sakura had told herself, Sasuke would put a stop to it. He would save her and free his team, then he would kill the bastards who did this to her. But he never came. Sakura had fought and struggled but she had _known_ Sasuke would come to save the girl. And then, Shibuki, in a massive burst of power and fury, tore them all apart. Sakura grabbed the girl, still believing Sasuke would at least come and heal her or something. But only when the girl was dead and cold in her arms did he come out. He was bloody and hurt. And he wouldn't even tell her where he had been.

When she stopped talking she continued to cry into Ino's lap

Kakashi silently left her in Ino's care. When he agreed to let her begin medical training, he thought she had wanted to atone for something. He felt better knowing she just didn't want to rely on Sasuke any more.

0o0o0

As Iruka walked to Kurenai's house he went over in his head about what all he had to tell her. Over the last couple days he had taken to henge as Naruto and visiting the ninja shops throughout the village. After the first day he realized just how badly Naruto had been cheated. If he only he'd known this much back in the academy, he would have been able to save Naruto a lot of trouble.

After he realized this he decided to take his henge up a notch and visit all the shops and stores in the village. He had found out exactly which shops would accept his patronage and which would try to cause trouble. He also now knew how many people felt bad for past crimes. Several of them had apologized to him when he was henged as Naruto. However, he wasn't entirely sure if he should relay their words back to Naruto. During the days when he wore that orange jumpsuit, he had never even seemed to notice he had been wronged at all. If he didn't already know and Iruka told him, it might only cause him more pain.

Kurenai had been busy with her new assistant yesterday or he would have told her about it then, added to that she seemed to have also taken a sick day today. He had asked for another instructor to cover his shift and waited all morning and she never showed up. Finally, he decided to just stop off at her home.

When he arrived there he was greeted by Hinata who was returning from her training with team ten. After a quick greeting she invited him in. What awaited inside was a shock to both of them. There were broken dishes, with shards sticking out of the walls, and up turned furniture, some piled on top of others. Numerous items had been strewn across the floor including papers. He did take note of the fact that all the valuable items such as her team photos were nowhere to be seen.

"Oooh," Hinata exclaimed, "W-what happened, Kurenai-sensei, sensei!" Hinata activated her Byakugan and headed to her sensei's bedroom, which had even more papers covering her floor. She was on her bed, it was on the floor at an angle while the rest of the room was as badly trashed as the main room. Picking up a page as he entered, he noticed that most of it was covered in black marks. From what he read off the page it sounded like a debriefing. But who, when, and about what were marked out. The only thing he could make out from it was that, whoever it was, they were being accused of something.

At the sight of the house and her sensei's distraught form, Hinata was livid. Who had done this? Whoever it was would find themselves unable to move for a week and in a very dry and very well hidden place.

"Sensei, are you alright? What happened? Who did this?"

Kurenai looked up to see them, her face was red and puffy, and she had obviously been crying "It... It's nothing. I-I just got a little upset, don't worry about it. I'll take care of the mess, and the furniture isn't going to be damaged by only that much." She assured them that she was fine and that no one had broken in.

From the way she spoke it sounded as if she'd done this before. "Are you going to need any help?"

"No, Iruka-san, I'm fine and I'll take care of this..." she gestured to the room, "myself."

"Why would _you_ do this any way sensei" Hinata still wasn't convinced it was her.

"It's nothing you need to worry about, just -"

"_Yes_, it _is_!" Iruka firmly informed her. "You're supposed to be the psychology expert here, and yet, it looks like you were trying to murder your _house_."

He let that sit and for a moment they just looked at one another.

"It _isn't_ your problem! Just go back to the academy lessens." Her eyes flicked to the floor, and then to Hinata. Giving a heavy sigh she looked back at him. "Iruka, would you take Hinata with you... and maybe give her some sort of training to work on for the afternoon?"

"Fine but we _will_ talk about this. Besides _that_, I had something else to discuss with you as well. You'll need to hear it before Naruto gets back."

"I will, just ... later." With that he withdrew, Hinata spared a last glance at her sensei and followed.

Looking around the house on his way out he saw on desk that, although splintered by a kunai, hadn't been moved. It looked like a workstation made to remove those black marks. A tedious job, one that could take hours for each page depending on the content. She could have only gotten through four or five of them for today. "Hinata," he whispered, "The desk with the knife in it must be meant for _reading_, right?" Taking the hint she re-activated her Byakugan and they were out the door.

0o0o0

Tenten felt sick, they had been running like this _all day_. And by _they_, she was referring to Gai and Lee. From her perch on Lee's back she caught all the wind in her face, one of her heir buns had fallen out and streamed behind her. They had decided to make the trip to a village on the border of the land of stone before nightfall, _of the day they left!_ Knowing she couldn't keep up they had her seal Lee's weights and had him carry her. They had passed the border almost an hour ago. Now they were coming up to the light of a village.

They passed over the sturdy wall in a leap and landed, _finally_ still. Or at least Gai was!

"Leeeee! sto ooo ppopp jujummpiieeng"

"**Sorry my **_**beautiful**_** comrade!"** He shouted as he stooped to let her climb down. She stayed on her feet long enough to wobble backwards then dropped on her butt too dizzy to stand up any more.

**"See my wonderful students!"** Gai added his loud voice to Lee's "I was correct when I told you our youth could get us **there in only one day!"**

Lee jumped up to Gai and shouted back **"Yes and** with my weights sealed away by our most _beautiful_ Tenten-chan**, it has become true!"**

Then there was silence... quiet... as one they looked at her. And Gai spoke, "Well my youthful student, we should have Tenten unseal them, **so you don't use up all of your...**" the left weight hit him in the face and she sent the other at Lee who almost dogged it. But, it still smacked him on the top of the head.

"If you two keep shouting like that!..." She stopped and squeezed her legs together "ohhh.. noo... I need to find a toilet!" With that she took off into the village leaving the green clad morons in the dirt.

0o0o0

The next day brought the team of three to a compound in the village they had stopped at. Lee of course, was already there, when Tenten was woken up by her sensei. As Gai and Tenten walked up to the compound, He explained that the two living here, were the last of their clan and for some reason the village they were in had decided that they were too dangerous to remain. The villagers wanted them gone, one way or another.

"And _that_ is why Konoha is getting paid to remove them, without the villagers having to fight. And to top it off, the Hokage has decided that they would make a most youthful addition to our very own village. So we are here to extend an invitation for them to join the leaf."

What the hell? How did that senile old man think _these two_ would help? "Why did he send _us_ to do it?"

"Well, firstly, because we were able to get here so soon. The villagers are feeling unsafe and are likely to panic if we don't handle it as fast as we can. But the main reason is because my youthful green protégé and I are the greatest tai-jutsu specialists in the village. The base of their clan style relies on tai-jutsu. They possess a bloodline of extreme chakra levels far greater then even Naruto's. hmf! If his heir and eyes were green then he might actually fit in with their clan. Anyway, they have incorporated their chakra into their tai-jutsu in a way that rivals even the Sannin Tsunade. It is also said that when the four tail monkey beast were to attack Iwagakure, this is the clan that would face it."

As they walked up to the entrance Lee greeted them and introduced them to a very tall teenager, Mondaimaru, and a smaller child, Gakimaru. By the way they looked at Lee you could tell that those weren't their real names. Lee just went with what they told him.

The older one stood almost as tall as Gai-sensei, and as Gai said his heir was green. Not the horrid green of their jumpsuits but a yellow green that was almost golden. He wore only lose fitting pants and a red belt. His broad chest and shoulders rippled as he moved his younger sibling to the door of the building. "Go inside _now_ gaki." Once the door was shut he turned back. "We aren't going any where. You might as well leave."

"If you don't mind, we will stay, for our youth shall get through to you. I have no doubts" Exclaimed Lee.

"Stay if you wish, but we won't leave."

"In the meantime Lee, let us exercise the stiffness from our youthful bodies, as we wait for your faith in youth to prevail!"

"**Gai-sensei!"**

"**Lee!"**

"**Gai-sensei!"**

Tenten looked up at her target in a sad way. At the sight of her green counterparts hugging, he sighed and opened the door, inviting her in.

She followed him through the entry room to a dining area, where he offered to get her a drink.

"Hai, that would be welcome."

Looking over to the little boy she realized he had been staring at her since she was invited in. "So Gakimaru, wasn't it?- ?

"It's _Tsu-_ga-**ku-**maru, hey if we did go… would you marry my broth—owww!" the little boy glared at the older sibling and clutched his head.

"Nobody is leaving Gaki! This is our home, mom left it to us! Just because some of the villagers are still mad doesn't mean we have to go anywhere."

"Anno… if it's not too personal, what happened anyway? Why do the villagers want you to leave?"

"Hn! Didn't they teach you about the battles of your own slug sennin? Or of whom she took the title of strongest kunoichi from?"

"Well they don't exactly teach it… they did go over the Sannin a bit, but hardly ever have any specifics. Most of what I know about them is only what we look up or hear about from our elders."

"It happened to be my grandmother. After that, she was taken away by another village. The problem is that she kept our dad in check. With her gone he let his temper loose a few times too many and just before gaki was born they sent a man named Roshi to kill him." She was a little stunned to hear how uncaring he sounded. The stoicism was just too much like _him_.

"Mom was well trusted by the villagers, so when she swore to remain loyal anyway, they left us alone. But she died over a week ago, and now the villagers think that we can't behave if she's not there to keep us in line."

Ohh.. she hadn't heard of their grandmother but she could understand how it happened. And to lose the last of his family only to be told to get out of the village. It wasn't right, not that that meant anything at the time.

After some time they had discussed several miner things like the village before working up to more meaningful things. Such as what his mother was like and how she also didn't have a mother.

Eventually he decided they had spoken long enough and asked her to make herself welcome to what ever she needed….. and to keep the creeps out.

With those slightly funny tidings he left her in the care of Tsu_**gaki**__-chan._

"Mom always said that he should pay more attention to girls and less to those clan scrolls. If this keeps up, I'll have to be the one to expand the clan. But if that's the case, then you'll be one of my first choices." The brat said with a foxy little grin. She blushed at that and heard the boy's elder brother groan at the line from down the hall.

0o0o0

With team Gai gone Hinata had been pacing herself as close to Gai's suggestions as she could. She still arrived at the same grounds and still did the exercises he had been having her do. But instead of increasing the amount of exercise based on how her body reacted she remained in the routine he had set for her before leaving.

As she flowed through the stretches she was also replaying her talk with Iruka sensei.

From what those papers said, her old sensei had decided that they we about Kurenai-sensei's old team, maybe even the mission that had killed them. This was upsetting; However, it must have been something horrible if her best role model had broken down like that.

She also wanted to know what it was he had to tell sensei about Naruto. "Oh. Its just a little looking around I've been doing. I thought she would like to know what I have found out." She didn't accept the way he brushed off her question and told him so with her best glare. One she and Kurenai-sensei had been working on for the last week.

Iruka, however, didn't seem to know what to tell her. In the end there was little she could do.

Once she came home that evening the house looked just fine. True to her word, Kurenai-sensei had everything back to its original state.

As Hinata shifted from stretching to her forms and strikes she realized that Kurenai had been holding her anger back all the time they had been a team. She wondered to herself how many times the elder kunoichi would have to do that to be able to repair it all in only a couple hours.

0o0o0

She felt so useless. After her cry in Ino's lap, Sakura had talked to her rival and best friend for what seemed like hours. And they examined almost every aspect of her life. The total sum; she was useless. Starting all the way back from when they had the bell test her skills were non-existent and her general training methods pathetic.

Even now, with her training at the hospital and the new determination their sensei had found she was still so far behind the other two, that she literally brought nothing to the team. Her taijutsu was only good when Kiba did something stupid and made her angry. Her chakra was so low that she only lasted a few minutes in ninjutsu while the other two could go for over an hour with out needing a break. It seemed the only good thing about her was her control. Already she had mastered two genjutsu; which Sasuke could see through, and Kiba could smell through.

All that time she had just let them take the brunt of the work. And after deciding to get stronger, she realized she couldn't! Without Kiba saving her on the last two missions, she would have died. And although Sasuke's actions had been heartless, if she had been serious from the beginning she wouldn't have needed Kiba's help in the first place.

Once that was established, Ino decided to help her out. First by suggesting she should seek training from Caterpillar brow's Sensei. According to Ino, Hinata had let slip that she and Naruto had been training with him, and when pressed, how much her chakra reserves had developed since. That would help all around. It would give her better endurance and let her use more powerful jutsu.

After the failure at the exam Kakashi-sensei had made them train a lot. They spent two hours on taijutsu and then went on a mission. Then they would train in ninjutsu and genjutsu. Kiba was the only one who didn't learn to cast a genjutsu, but dispelling them was something the Cyclops had made sure they learned. And despite her control, she had taken the longest to get out of his illusion.

Then they began learning ninjutsu. She was able to make a pillar of earth, which could be used for several things. To jump off of or launch at the enemy. Once she mastered it she would be able to make it into a wall. But for now a two meter cylinder was the extent of her jutsu.

After what happen on _that_ mission, Kakashi had allowed Sakura train in medical jutsu, and moved the tai-jutsu to after their missions. So she trained at the hospital in the mornings while the others were training in their personal ninjutsu arsenals.

She got bruises and scrape level in a week. Apparently her chakra control was perfect. She was worked to the bone there. And it wasn't jutsu very often. Oh she healed a thumb that had been hit with a hammer and a foot that had a nail through it but mostly it was just changing bandages and maintaining the wounds from battle.

And if what she had just gone through wasn't enough, she began hearing how much work team 8 had been doing. She admitted to feeling a vain envy of them. Kakashi had waited until then to start training them at anything and now they had to catch up. It was no wonder Sasuke was caught by surprise in the preliminary match. Naruto, the bastard, was talked about like some kind of hero by several of the teens and some of the adults too. Just because Sasuke wasn't given the training he should have had. If he hadn't been taught by one of the Sannin! Of all people! Then he never would have beat Sasuke.

But she had small satisfaction that just as many people, who she had helped in the hospital, had been angry with the Idiot as well. And now he was a chunnin! It only convinced her more that she needed to train with Gai. She needed to help Sasuke, if she didn't, then he would continue on this downward spiral into despair. A path that Naruto put him on in that match.

Looking at the training ground she had been told to find the pinkette only saw Hinata. She had heard that _those two_ would often run laps around Konoha's wall. Maybe they would be back soon.

"Ohio! Hinata-san," she called out cheerfully. Making her way over, she got to the point. "When do you think Gai-sensei will be back?"

The injured girl didn't even stop working on her katas. "Ano.. H-He's on a-a mission r-right now. He w-won't be b-back for a c-couple d-days."

'Oh well' Sakura thought to herself. 'Since you're already here you might as well get in some stretching.'

"You mind if I join you for a bit, I'm already here and I don't really want to waste time going back to the training ground my team uses."

Sakura had expected Hinata to comply. The shy little girl never complained about anything un-baka related. As such, she had already begun her first stretch and was a little embarrassed, not to mention quite surprised, when Hinata objected, as polite as it was.

"G-gomen, b-but I do m-mind. Tha-that is, I w-would rather you n-not join me."

Maybe she was still mad at her over that argument the baka started. It was months ago but hey she had held a grudge much longer then that.

"Look Hinata, I know I have said and done some things that were uncalled for. I would really like to just move past that. And –"

"It's n-not that S-Sakura-san, I-I would just prefer to-to train by myself."

Sakura blinked at Hinata's interruption, then actually looked at the diminutive Hyuuga. She was flushed with a red face. While not uncommon, the blonde who usually garnered that reaction was off on a mission. She was also sweating profusely. And what Sakura had taken for her natural stuttering had actually been panting, heavy panting.

Sakura realized it must embarrass her to train with the injuries. Unsure whether or not to apologize, Sakura decided that drawing attention to Hinata's state would only make it worse. So she hastily excused herself from the grounds, telling herself she would comeback to see if Gai had returned in two or three days.

0o0o0

"Step right in Anbu-san"

The Anbu shinobi had been called off duty for the morning so he could answer a summons by the Hokage's acting representative.

And he met her in one of the unused debriefing rooms, in the Hokage tower. It was small, meant for only two or three people at the most.

Kurenai Yuuhi sat behind a desk in said room, and pushed a chair out from under it with her foot.

"If you would please verify your rank and identification we can get started"

"Hai. Voice-sama"

Voice-sama? That title referred to the fact that as the Sandaime's personal assistant and caregiver, she represented his authority and could essentially voice _his_ opinions. At least in all but the major issues.

But to actually be titled by it was gratifying.

She gave a slight smirk as the Anbu finished his _'identification'_ by removing his mask.

Too bad she was about to abuse it.

0o0o0

Tenten was terrified, swathed in feelings of betrayal and anger. The villagers had formed a mob. Intent on driving out the so called monsters, they attacked. Even after her team had taken this mission they still wanted blood. Gai-sensei and Lee both tried to turn them back spouting that youth crap and it did nothing. Now they were all dead.

She stared at the burnt bodies, left in the wake of the explosion. He had just lifted his hand… and in a flash of light the villagers were dead. That was all it took. A flick of his wrist. And they were all gone.

Looking over she saw her team in battle. Gai-sensei landed one of his best kicks on the teen, only to bounce off and get kicked back. He blocked the twin Konoha Senpuu and flung both of her green teammates to the ground. She could feel it. They had opened the gates. Mondaimaru could too. He attacked. He was winning through sheer brute strength.

Slowly she too, prepared to end this. Taking her scroll out, she unsealed the extreme giant shuriken. Each of the four blades were a meter long and the center ring was half a meter wide. Holding it up over her head she began to spin it. As it picked up speed the dirt and dust around her began to lift and spin with it.

Gai saw it. And with Lee, they managed to position Mondaimaru for the strike. The shuriken had reached its top velocity, Gai and Lee had the enemy pinned, now was the time to attack!

She bent her body back and down, before and flowing forward, flinging her arms towards him, sling-shooting the shuriken.

At the last moment, as the blade moved just past her reach, she saw the movement. But it was too late to catch the shuriken.

0o0o0

"Ok Anbu-san, Just sign here and you may go"

The Anbu looked up at her in shock. "But I only told you my name –"

"Don't worry about it." She interjected. "This meeting was more for a formality. I have it all on paper; this was just to make it official."

She slid him the release form so he could sign it. Standing he picked up his mask and put it back on. 'That's odd, when did I even take it off?' The Anbu pondered this as he walked back to the base. Since he was only in there for a few minutes he might be able to go back on duty today.

Before he even got there, he recognized two of his fellows making their way towards him. "Hey, how did it go?" "Yeah, what could you and Voice-sama talk about for so long?"

0o0o0

Hinata arrived at the cabin early today. After the cold shoulder she'd been sporting yesterday her attitude was different. She looked worn and sore. As if she was still hurting from her injuries. She did this once already so Ino knew the drill. They would chat and 'meditate' and do minor non-exerting chakra control exercises. Basically, they would just pull a team wide _Nara_.

Hinata used her perfect control to look hurt. She controlled her breathing to be shallower and her movements to be more constrained. The Hyuuga could manipulate her chakra to break out in a sweat. And Ino suppressed a giggle when she entertained the idea of what Hinata had to think about for her face to turn _that_ red. Then there was the fact that she could throw it on at any moment. And recover from it like it hadn't even been there.

Shikamaru was playing shogi with Asuma-sensei and not even looking at the board. He was turned to face Ino and Choji as they sparred reaching behind him and a little to his right to pick up a piece seemingly blindly and move it into position.

"So" Ino began, wrapping her arm and shoulder over the girl, it was time to confirm what she thought. "Did you continue your work out on your way over here or did they reroute the path to go around the village"

Hinata immediately activated her Byakugan. "The tree sixteen meters to the south east of the stump Shikamaru made. Four meters up." The stump had been the only real damage he had ever made to a tree. Granted they had to threaten to tell his mom he wasn't training.

"Wow Hinata that's pretty far." Getting out a small telescope Asuma tossed it to Choji. He immediately drained his canteen as he took a glance at the spy. He looked like a Hyuuga, he was dressed like one had the same heir and face, but his eyes were normal. He didn't have the Hyuuga dojutsu.

Turning back around to set his canteen down he made a note of it. "Hey Hinata? I got a good look, but his eyes are strange"

"Umm… duh? Its their dojutsu, if you haven't noticed she has it too!" Ino promptly informed him.

"No, I mean they're normal, er… I mean he doesn't have the Byakugan."

"What? Who do you think he is, How long has he been there?"

"It is one of the far branch retainers. They don't have the full bloodline."

"So do you think he knows he's been caught?"

Hinata shook her head "He's been staying out of my old range of vision. The distance I had before… before the exam."

All of the chakra control exercises she'd been doing with team ten had drastically improved her control. She had actually replicated the Kaiten yesterday. And after only three months of living with her sensei! However, Hinata wanted to use a different technique one that didn't require so much chakra output and would utilize her flexibility more.

"So how does the far branch fit into the Hyuuga clan?" Ino asked after the tree of them sat down on the grass in a meditation pose.

"There are several branch families in the clan," Hinata explained "Not all of the Hyuuga are born baring our bloodline limit. Though, even if they don't have it, they can still pass it onto their children. Because of this all children who descend from a Hyuuga are considered to be a member of the clan. Should one marry out of the clan, instead of becoming a part of another clan, the member of that clan is to be considered a Hyuuga as also. This preserves the safety of our bloodline."

It was a text book lecture taught to all the children of the Hyuuga clan.

"These are the members of the Far Branch. And in order to keep the bloodline strong without incestual relationships it is necessary to promote the population of the far branch. Inter-clan marriages usually involve a member of the far branch. That way the bloodline remains strong. Most of the far branch serves the clan as retainers, or as the clan's personal guards. A few have become shinobi; most of those join the Anbu."

Hinata thought for a moment, and realized that she had their full attention, even Shikamaru and Asuma-sensei had stopped their game to listen.

"So if they don't have the Hyuuga dojutsu then how do they perform the jyuuken?" Asuma inquired.

"They developed a long range jyuuken form, essentially jyuuken archery. Their eyes, even without the Byakugan, perform much better then normal, some of them even had fluctuating traits of pure sight. Add to that the Hyuuga chakra control, taught to them from infancy. They were able to create the chakra bow. It is a chakra based bow that shoots direct bolts of chakra into the enemy, causing damage as a real arrow would, without breaking the skin unless it is a very concentrated shot."

It was a very good skill, one that most Hyuuga could perform if they wanted to. But the main family and most of the branch believed it was too rudimentary. So it was only taught to the far branch who had become the clan guards.

Yet the theory behind it… Yes! To shoot an arrow of chakra in long range… or a _needle_. If she could make it dense enough, Concentrate the chakra needle enough, she could use it in her new technique!

After answering a few more questions about the Hyuuga clan, Hinata got up and stretched. As she did this she checked the tree's again with her Byakugan. There was no trace of him in the area. Still, she would be 'injured' for the rest of the day. Just to make sure.

"So Ino-san how was your lunch the other day? I forgot to ask you about it after I had a visitor at the training field yesterday."

Ino knew instantly who she meant. "Please Hinata! Please, don't object, Sakura just… she _really_ needs this. She's in a bad way right now."

"It isn't my decision if she trains with Gai-sensei or not. But how will I get stronger if I have to hide during my most intense training session everyday?"

"Hinata, maybe you could just let her in. I'll vouch for her. She won't blab about your _injuries_ to anyone, I swear." Looking at Hinata debating this, Ino knew she had just screwed up if she couldn't come through. If Sakura did say something then everything they had done would blow up. And she would be the one who got Hinata sent back _there_.

It didn't take a Nara to figure out why Hinata acted so different from a few months ago.

"Sakura isn't doing so well. She really just wants to help her team. So I thought that if she got better at taijutsu and worked on her endurance, she would improve more."

"_That_ is going to be such a drag." Shikamaru said as he reached almost behind him again to move a shogi piece with out his gaze on them wavering. "The only way she would be able to learn taijutsu in any quality, even from Gai, _especially with the way he looks_, would be if he wrote a book about it." He foretold, effectively changing the subject before it got too troublesome.

Asuma made his move and instantly Shikamaru moved his piece and said "checkmate".

"_What the hell!_ Shikamaru, you didn't even pay attention! If you're not going to at least _look_ like your watching the game, then maybe you aught to wear your chuunin vest so it doesn't look like _I_ was just beaten so badly by a _genin_."

Conceding his defeat, the Nara turned back to his sensei with a mumbled troublesome.

0o0o0

When Hinata got home she saw that Kurenai-sensei was out. But as prearranged she had left a note with instructions on what she was to do. The note told her, that she had gone to visit an old friend who was feeling a little ill and would be gone for awhile.

Hinata was to practice her writing of seals and study the scroll her sensei had given her several days ago. It explained how sealing scrolls worked and how the were related to explosive tags. She was going to become proficient at sealing scrolls before she would learn how to make any other seals. The first seal was a chakra storage seal. She had already gotten that one down. Her next one was a water storage seal.

Grabbing her sealing and bathing supplies, Hinata headed to the bath house. This was going to be a relaxing training session.

0o0o0

The sky was just showing a dimple of light as the sun began to rise. Iruka walked up a path to one of the many hills the provided a decent view of the village.

Blinking in surprise he walked over to Kurenai. She sat on a tree stump bench just staring at a painting, a painting of her with a stake going through her back and out one of her breasts. Who would paint such a thing?

The painting was rolled up and Kurenai was on her feet in a blink. "Do you need something?"

"Well, actually I was just going to watch the sunrise…"

"I'll be going then—"

"Wait, I do need to talk to you still. I have a request petition I'd like to go over with you. Also I though you might be interested in some of the information I gathered in the process."

She sat back down and the chuunin began telling her about his shop, and the practice missions. He told her where all he looked and what shops she could now take Naruto to. She told him that she wouldn't rest until he was welcome in all the shops. She agreed with him on incorporating the missions into the lessons, and said that if it pulled through Iruka might be in for a promotion in the ranks at the academy.

When they were done the sun had risen and Kurenai felt her drive restored.

0o0o0

Neji was wondering how Hinata hid from her observer yesterday. The retainer who had been sent knew how far her Byakugan could see. And his sight, even without the Byakugan was much farther, as long as there was nothing to block his view. Without Lee running his morning laps Neji had no way of contacting her.

He sat, enjoying the cool of the evening, gazing past the village gate out into the forest beyond it. He would just have to look again when he began his morning lap around the village. He still ran it even when Lee was gone. Not just to keep up appearances, but because it helped to get away and focus.

He sighed in disappointment; the young Hyuuga would be expected back soon. He had just gotten out of view of the gate when he heard them approach. Activating his dojutsu, he was welcomed to the sight of his team returning. But not too pleased at their condition.

Lee's leg had been snapped just below the knee. And Gai was carrying him. Tenten walked a few meters back from the two of them. And she looked very distressed. She was displaying the same ticks as she did after her first kill. The way she kept rubbing the first two knuckles on her left hand together was a sign that she was trying not to think about something. Pressing her middle two fingers into her palm as she did it meant she felt guilty; she was also wearing makeup meaning she had been crying! That was the only reason he had ever seen her wear make up on a mission.

0o0o0

Lee sat in his team's training field with his legs crossed and his leg brace on top. He ran his fingers over it gently. Because of this he had missed his morning run, but the medic had said his leg was a clean break and would be healed in a couple weeks. In the mean time they had given him this brace so he could move around. As long as he didn't do any training that would stress his leg.

Therefore, he had decided that tomorrow he would make his run on his hands.

For now though, he sat. He sat and he watched Hinata's youth blazing in redemption. She had mastered one of Neji's most prized techniques. The Kaiten. Next, she had begun developing her own technique, one that would surpass the Kaiten. She would work on the chakra part of it during her sessions with team ten. But here, she was developing an intricate interweaving of motions.

Sighing as his youth dimmed, he reflected once more that Tenten wasn't here. Both his teammates had forever lost their youth it would seem.

Hinata-chan had asked why she wasn't here and his Ever-Youthful Sensei had said she needed time. Lee agreed with him stating that even after Gai told him the way to cheer up a girl was to give her lots of complements she wouldn't smile. She hated the entire trip up there. Then there was a glorious battle… that had a rather un-youthful ending. Swallowing Lee returned his focus to his brace. Now was not the time to think about such things. To dwell was most un-youthful.

"Ohio" looking up Lee glimpsed the fairest view in the village, A pink haired girl whom gave his stomach a youthful flutter.

Did he hear her correctly? Haruno Sakura was asking to train with them! Is it possible she saw the light of youth at last?

"Lee, come over her and observe Sakura's taijutsu skills."

"Hai sensei! Er… Am I allowed to correct her if she isn't moving in the most youthful way?"

"Yes Lee! I want you to instruct her for the day. That means correcting her mistakes. If we are to evaluate her level of taijutsu we must know what she can do and how fast she can improve!"

"Hai Gai-sensei! I am honored that you have faith in my teaching abilities!"

"This is also to train those abilities. It is training to pass on the legacy of youth by teaching it **to others**!"

So Lee first had her perform the taijutsu she knew, as he remembered Gai-sensei doing for Naruto when _he_ first joined their training sessions. He watched as she moved through the motions. Making a suggestion here and there, and each time he corrected her he asked that she repeat the corrected form a few time so it would be natural.

"Well my student, you have outshined your own youth today! Sakura-san I am glad you came to learn the ways of youth from us."

At this, she turned deathly pale and a little green in her cheeks. That mixed in with her pink splendor, she had become even more beautiful.

"However as much as you need the help, I cannot teach the ways of youth to the student of my eternal rival! It is against the rules!"

"Yosh! I was not aware of this rule pertaining to eternal rivals!"

"No, no Lee, it's against the rules to teach another jonin's student with out their permission. That is whether they are your rival or not. But do not despair! While Sakura must learn it on her own it does not mean she can't seek out a youthful spar!"

"**Yeoossshh!** If I have not sparred with Sakura-chan by the end of the week I shall find and spar with my most un-youthful teammate instead! And if he is too un-youthful to spar with then I shall—"

"Leeee! I haven't gotten to the best part yet!"

"You mean _that_ would not be breaking the rules!"

"Hai Lee-kun, Sakura-chan how interested would you be, in purchasing the first ever youthful taijutsu instruction manual!" As Gai shouted this, he brought out a massive volume, and clasped it between both of his hands, above his head for all to see. Lee had no idea where Gai-sensei had hidden it all morning. It was huge. The same youthful green as his jumpsuit and the pages were connected by heavy iron rings, so that you would be training just by reading it!

"**It is the basics of taijutsu of youth on paper! And only eight thousand ryou!"**

Sakura's eyes had become large shimmering pools of youth, and then, she wilted. Turning and heading off into the sunset she shouted back "I only carry four thousand with me. I'll be back tomorrow to get it." As soon as she was gone the sunset faded from his eyes. And tears sprung up in its place.

"Gai-sensei! We sold our first copy!"

"Hai Lee-Kun!" His eyes were also flowing with tears.

And so they ran. "Gai-sensei!" They ran towards one another in a glorious sunset of youth! "Leee!" They ran… and tripped tumbling into each other in the dirt when they heard it!

Looking over at Hinata they hear what had began as a giggle. But grew and erupted into a full and blazing laughter. The Hyuuga had fallen to her knees and cluched her sides as she gave a most youthful roar of joyousness. This was the first time they had ever heard her laugh, and to their knowledge the first time she had ever laughed with such youth. It was a sound so pure and joyous they couldn't help but join – Even though they had no idea what was so funny. They were just glad Hinata had finally embraced youth.

* * *

-Note-

I know I just skipped the explanation of the mentioned missions. I will go deeper on the missions as I go through the other's POV on what had happened. Also, don't assume that things from one POV are entirely accurate. Keep in mind that it is just how that person see's it and the others may have a valid reason for their actions.

Sasuke is not being cold hearted, he will explain this in the next chapter.

Sakura's really shaken up, you would be too if you had to watch a little girl, like, 6-8, getting tortured and screaming and begging it to stop. And Sakura probably would have cheered at Sasuke killing someone if not for it. She had her eyes opened that he's not so powerful.

_**This is not Sakura bashing!**__ This is in fact a key point in the plot of how her personality develops later on in the story._

In total Sasuke let the girl die, almost got her burned alive, and killed an unarmed and defeated enemy without caring. Sakura hasn't given up on him but is more or less angry at him for not being the god she believed him to be. She had her dream boy taken away. And her fantasy's shattered. Also note that she doesn't think of him as Sasuke-_kun _anymore just Sasuke. She realizes that he is week and now feels like she needs to step up to support him.

Also she is starting to realize that Naruto _is_ better then Sasuke and resents him for it, even blames him for it. And so she feels as though he is wronging Sasuke and her by extension simply by being promoted before him. She thinks he set Sasuke on this path by beating him in the exam as easily as he did.

Ino is still after Sasuke, she heard the bad things about him and rationalized that most shinobi would have been in the same place. Ino had jumped to the first kill conclusion thinking that if Sasuke had left her in a spot where she had been forced to kill, then maybe Sakura would have broken her ideals of him. Explaining how she could blame him now when she couldn't before.

Sakura's assumption that Naruto trained with a Sannin before beating Sasuke is from rumor that he was training with one and her own conclusion that he had to have been taught before the exam.

What was in the papers, well duh, it was a hint that she had been right! And it was put there to make her overstep herself, Danzo is trying to take over, if he can use her to depose the third then he will, besides he had been beaten by her in the coup, so he wanted to do something appropriate. You're just going to have to use your imagination for the interview.

The OC Clan of Chakra tanks I mentioned have the same level of chakra as Naruto... _Without the Kyuubi._ And that is only the fully trained ones. The two I wrote about are mostly untrained kids.

As for Tenten, this event will reshape her outlook a little. And provide just a tiny detail required for the future of this story.

The far branch; yeah… lets just ignore the fact that I made it up. In the anime we saw that there are dozens of branch Hyuuga what are the chances that some are not born with out the bloodline. And I am going on a bases that there are as many Hyuuga as there were Uchiha, and that not all their children had the bloodline. To prevent interbreeding complications they would have to breed it out. And in order to keep the bloodline clean many of the Hyuuga without the Byakugan would be bread back in.

It also provides a little more detail into the background plot.

I converted 1 ryou to be flexibly from ¾'s to 1-1/2 cents so the manual is $80. And it has detailed description of muscle, tendon and nerve movements as well as how it should feel and images depicting the movements, not to mention that he put _all_ of his basic taijutsu moves into it. So it could have cost way more. But I'll show her using the book later.

- Second Note -

I have received some feed back that Hinata has been recovering from her shyness **_too_** fast. and would like to point out a few things;

One she has had almost three months in a more then encouraging environment.

Two she is not over her shyness, she is just better when it comes to training and those she trusts. Like team 10 and Lee.

Three she was laughing because Shikamaru had said Gai would have to write a book on taijutsu for Sakura to learn it. and he did.

And I would also like to point out a few spots that encourage this growth.

From S'tarkan's original team 8 it began with her being forced to see her life has value.

"And now Naruto will face Neji in his first match of the finals, and I'm fairly sure he intends to kill him – no matter if it disqualifies him. Shino doesn't care so much about his foes as the chance that he might face Neji as well… to avenge you. These are the people you forgot about when you faced your cousin. These are the people that you thought wouldn't care if you got yourself killed."

Hinata felt something snap within her. Suddenly the bedclothes were too tight as she levered herself up on her elbows, ignoring the spasms of pain in her chest. "Why do they care?" she heard herself asking in a rasping growl that made her want to cough. "Why should anyone care if a failure like me dies? I'm useless! I'm worthless!

From my first chapter

She was done in a matter of seconds. She was getting better. Her body had regained its normal speed and she no longer had trouble breathing. Kurenai didn't know how much longer the charade could continue. But she wasn't just getting better physically. The isolated, depressed, doormat of a girl was gone. It was stunning how much Hinata had changed. She was still timid, but her chin was strait and her stride had a purpose to it. And after the dilemma she had gone through in the hospital, she had finally found value for her life. Hinata had begun smiling almost regularly during the last month. This increased with her continuing stay.

And later on

Shino considered telling Naruto his findings over the weeks of the reconstruction. But he sustained his previous conclusion. To mention it would only cause Naruto unwarranted distress. He must have noticed how Hinata had changed, and there was the possibility that he already knew. Shino didn't know what she had told Naruto when she was in the hospital, but it had saved the Hyuuga bastard from a well deserved death. Shino had seen how conflicted Naruto had been over it, during the month before the tournament. And after she began living with Kurenai-sensei, their Hyuuga teammate had changed. It was gradual, and Naruto seemed to keep up with it. But she had changed _deeply_ in that time. Shino had detected something very wrong with her. Deep in her subconscious was something he could only get a glimpse of. Something dark. Something dangerous. That may have been what she had told Naruto. Still, he hadn't had an inkling of it before her apology.

He knew how bad it must have been for her in the Hyuuga compound. Aside from what he and Naruto had discovered, he had determined the emotional abuse she went through, by the knowledge of what little was needed to improve her mental state. Simple things like knowing they considered her worth the effort, had altered the very way she spoke. The way she walked and how she trained. Shino wondered how much she will change while they are gone. Naruto had changed so much after his life was reformed.

So she has been fixed it would seem. But I will not just make her a sunny side up. She will still have plenty to work on.


	5. Bottom Rank Genin

SAND

**Bottom Rank Genin  
**_For the Sake of Pain  
_

* * *

One hand forward, the other hand forward. Again. Lee felt a drop of sweat roll up his face. Or was it down his face? That's right he was upside down, walking on his hands. And if he fell over before he made it to the gates, he would do a thousand handstand pushups. After he did that it would be no problem to make it to the gates next time.

He needed to get stronger. He couldn't stop thinking about the fight, that guy. He had a jutsu that had made a ball of light and then flash. The mob had been baked alive. After looking at the clan scrolls they found on the compound Gai had explained that they had tried to recreate a blasting technique that the tailed beast did.

Nothing they did to him had stopped him. Even Tenten's extreme giant shuriken. They had him open but he just turned and brought his hand down on it when it got near. It shattered and all the pieces flew harmlessly past him.

Then he turned and pointed his arm at Tenten, just as he had at the villagers. It had terrified Lee. "Gai-sensei! Whatever it takes, you must stop that jutsu!"

He didn't want her to be vaporized like the villagers had been. Gai moved fast but he wouldn't reach her in time, so he moved to cut off the blast halfway to her and 'puff' there was smoke just as he intercepted the blast.

The blast spread out to the sides, unable to pass where Gai landed, as it cleared Lee saw a large round form, he remembered thinking 'Gai didn't get fat off that jutsu did he?'

Neji woke him from his thoughts. "Lee you need to give Hinata my message again, ok?"

"Hai, Neji-san she will labor most un-youthfully in her deception or I shall carry her around the village on my hands!"

And to his credit, Neji didn't even roll his eyes.

He thought about Neji. His youth had been restored to its previous level, he seemed to return to the way he was before the exam. But he could get better. He would.

Lee had seen him making an effort and this secret message was a great step in the right direction.

But he hadn't made it _there_ yet, so when he asked about the mission, Lee simply told him that when he has re-found his youth, then he would find their friendship to be back in its spring time. Until then he would just have to ask Gai-sensei.

0o0o0

It was dank dark and damp, the bone thin shinobi walked through the halls of the prison. He was tall, so tall he couldn't stand straight under the low ceiling. This shinobi resembled a skeleton, with almost no muscle left on him, and no fat whatsoever.

Today he was returning to _their_ cell. He called their names and waited for the reply, he didn't want to be caught by their fun.

"It is a chuunin now," he informed them. "As of nine days ago."

"Chunnin or not, we will kill it." She told him, "We will force it to lose as much as we have, to endure the pain we suffered because of it."

Then she turned back to their latest victim, and began a whispering tune. The pour man had been in here for two weeks out of a 6 month sentence. But they had done this to him.

He lay there, in a pool of blood, having torn his own eyes out. And he was currently clawing at what used to be his right ear.

Her brother glanced over his shoulder to glare. "Just make sure you don't waste our time getting whoever your friend is out. I won't have my justice taken by tardiness."

With the warning the shinobi left. He wasn't concerned about the other prisoners. He himself was not a prisoner per say, more of a forced transfer case. By the orders of the Yondaime his past war efforts were deemed a bit too hostile for war. So he had been sent here, where he would rot.

He made his way down deep into the prison until he came upon a man attached to the wall, by a huge paper with unreadable scrolling on it. And above, on his forehead, was a smaller one to lock away his mind.

"How long has it been since I failed to kill you?" He asked not expecting an answer.

0o0o0

'Today I open the door to a whole new level of training,' thought Sakura. Looking around she saw the gross green goblins at their early morning routine. And off to the other side of the field was Hinata.

A small throb of pity hit her as she saw what the Hyuuga heiress had been reduced to. Panting and _sweating_, as if she had run an entire hour long, yet, she was only doing the standard academy _stretches_. She was in obvious pain.

This was what happened when you fought a genius. And even if Naruto had beaten two of them, it didn't mean that others were as _lucky_ as he was during his matches. And no doubt he had pressured his poor indigo teammate into fighting the match.

"Ohiyo! Everybody." Announcing herself, Sakura began stretching.

"Sakura-chan! Perhaps you would like to start the day with a youthful spar!"

"Yosh Lee! I think you should spar _twice_ with her this morning!" When Sakura gave Gai a questioning look, with a hint of _'eww, and BAKA!,_' mixed in, he explained.

"You should spar first now and then again, _after_ she has browsed through her new Youthful Taijutsu Instruction Manual. This way we can easily gauge how effective youth on paper is."

They moved into stance and Gai called "Begin!"

Racing forward Sakura created two bunshin and Lee simply performed the Konoha whirlwind sending her to the ground and dispersing both of the bunshin.

She was on her feet in a flash and followed through with the first attack by activating the flash tag she'd dropped. Then she attacked Lee while he was blind.

But once again, she was simply knocked down, as Lee spun once dragging a leg and twice swinging it out around him. She jumped it. A third time around, he had flipped to his hands and began spinning fast enough to form a dust twister.

This time however, Lee was also hurt and Gai called the spar over. Rushing to Lee, he pulled one of caterpillar brow Junior's leg warmers off, to reveal a cast and brace.

'_Another_ sign of how week I am'. Sakura thought depressingly. 'I was just beat _severely_ by a kid with a broken leg.'

After he was done scolding Lee for using that leg when he wasn't supposed to they agreed to do an extra set of hand laps around the village.

Turning to her, Gai brought out the horrid colored book and to her pleasant surprise a cherry red book cover.

"I'm afraid we must postpone your next spar with Lee. But this only means you will have that much longer to train in youthful taijutsu."

"That's okay; In fact I think I'd like as much time as I can get, before sparring with him again. You know… get as strong as I can to give him a real challenge."

"Yosh, your flames of youth have already been brightened by the power of youth _on paper!"_

"Gai-sensei this is wondrous!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

Taking that as an okay, Sakura made up a line that would have made Kakashi proud and fled.

0o0o0

Kiba sat, brushing down Kuromaru, his mother's partner. She was pregnant again, and showing. He wondered how many pups were going to be in this batch. Her belly had already expanded past the size of her last batch.

Akamaru whined. It was kind of pitiful and lonely. "Yeah I know. I'd like to see her again too."

For a moment the image of a girl flashes through his mind. She was a total ply board but for some reason she seemed _soo_ hot.

He thought back to the waterfall mission, he had been attacked outside and knocked out. He didn't know what had happened in there, but from what he gathered, Sasuke had been in charge of getting leader out of there and they had to get some sort of soldier water.

That was what the group was after. Sasuke had said that if they got it then there would be no stopping them so he had smashed it, and was ambushed shortly after. But the villagers said Shibuki, the new leader, had still used it.

When he woke up it was over, and Akamaru was gone. So Kiba looked for him. Turns out the villagers had brought him and Akamaru in the village to be treated.

When he found his partner, the little mutt was with this cutie. The way she held him, Kiba knew she would make a great Inuzuka. But the moment he stepped out she fixed him with a glare that made him want to piss himself.

And that was just the first in a long line of failures to come. They had the worst luck, first it was a C-rank turned A, now their D-rank turned into an A-rank. And things had been going so well after the preliminary exam. Sasuke stopped acting as arrogant, and they actually began working as a team, and Sakura had all but stopped hitting him.

After the waterfall though, Sasuke pulled away. He might have felt guilty for getting ambushed like he had. He hadn't even seen his attacker.

Sakura started at the hospital and became indifferent to both of them.

Then Sasuke ruined their chance to go on a trip with Yukie-hime!

Though… after she started that fire… Sakura had nearly died in there. The smoke was too bad to see or smell. If Akamaru hadn't found her when she passed out from smoke inhalation they never would have made it out on time.

It was a good thing that the clan taught all their dogs to swim. Because the same thing happened on the next mission. They were sent to keep this high speed runner safe. And part of the race was over a lake. The boat was attacked and he had to save them both, Akamaru grabbed Sasuke and he grabbed Sakura.

After they got out of the water they were attacked by an Amegakure shinobi with some legendary sword. Naturally, Sasuke charged in with his newest jutsu, the Chidori.

But that didn't work. Instead the _sword_ tossed Sasuke out of the way.

Kiba revealed then, that he had mastered his new clan jutsu; _Inuzuka-Ryu: Jinju Konbi Henge: Sotoro._ He used it to fuse him and Akamaru into a giant two headed wolf. Then using his _Garoga_ they drilled into him, knocking the sword out of the enemy's hands.

It went over the cliff and just as he was preparing for his next spin attack to end it, Sasuke appeared with _those_ marks covering his body, and stabbed his Chidori into the nin, kicking him off of his arm and over the cliffs as well.

Kiba was sure he could have beaten him without killing the guy, but Sasuke had none of it. Instead of accepting help, he had told Kiba that if he ever got in the way again, he'd kick his ass.

After that Kiba had to carry Idate to the finish line. And then they learned that Sasuke had broken the legs of their opponent. They were disqualified. So they had to leave.

And just before they had gotten out of town they heard the noise. Kakashi was gone in a flash and he and Sasuke were quick to follow. But when they got there the clan heads were both dead, along with their guards.

Now they were stuck on this d-rank teamwork crap and Kiba made a point to complain about it every chance he got, purposely instigating arguments from Sasuke.

But Sakura hadn't hit him or even spoke in Sasuke's defense. Once Kiba realized this he asked her what was wrong with her. 'Was she finally over Sasuke?' He wondered.

Then Sasuke stuck his foot in his mouth and commented. "Maybe she is just focusing less on idiots like you and more on not being useless."

He had never thought Sakura would scream at_ Sasuke_ like that.

It wasn't murder, Okay the guy lost his sword, but he still had jutsu, did she forget about that. It was nice to be thanked for saving her though.

0o0o0

Iruka said goodbye to Kurenai as she left his shop. They had talked to the Hokage about the missions and it was setup. The Sandaime had been very pleased with the idea. Now he just had to pick some teams and have Shikamaru start taking them out.

He walked over to the training grounds and searched out Gai. He wanted to get in some more advanced training so he had arranged to spar with Gai on days they both had off.

They had spoken about Naruto's promotion and he decided he did not want to call his little brother senpai.

He also asked if he could have Gai help train the students in taijutsu at the academy. And Gai volunteered Lee to do it.

"See my youthful student! The training from the other day has already been needed. So you must train for every thing that may happen!"

Well... whatever worked.

0o0o0

Sasuke was tired, Kiba had been ruthless in training. As he had been after they came back from every one of their D-rank missions. On the one hand he was finally becoming an extreme challenge to Sasuke and forcing him to go all out to keep on top.

On the other hand, he hurt like hell. Kiba actually had claws, and that wasn't just the extended finger nails. He tore into Sasuke today. Kakashi had had to step in. Then Sakura healed all of Kiba's bruises.

He blinked as he saw that she hadn't turned to him. And instead sat next to kiba chatting about the new batch of pups. She was smiling. She had stopped brooding as she'd been doing since _then_. He still couldn't tell them that the coward had been the one to lay him out flat under the falls.

0o0o0

When the attack came he had been ready to fight, but most of the enemy went into the village. So, leaving the others, he followed in hopes to slow them up. Giving Shibuki and the children time to get safely in the village.

'Note to self, ask Kakashi for an underwater katon jutsu.' thought Sasuke. At that time he had only been able to swim after them.

He had tried to use one of his water proof explosive notes wrapped around a kunai, but aiming under water was much harder.

'Another note to self, train in underwater ken-jutsu tomorrow.'

He jumped out of the water on their heels and before he had even come down from his chakra enhanced swimming jump, he attacked.

_Katon: Karyudan,_ the dragon flame bullet jutsu. Using a mass spread jutsu and one that he could aim at individuals instead of just a wide area. This way he could take out the enemy without hitting bystanders.

Several smallish balls of fire shot out of his mouth and they had to dodge. The shinobi had little chance at fighting against him, right up until he landed, _on the water_.

Next thing that happened was less then surprising. They attacked with water jutsu and he had to retreat. Luckily, his hit and run had severed its purpose. The leader of the village had gotten the children away.

Then as he watched through the water the other rogue ninja surfaced. And she was carrying a struggling Sakura and an unconscious Kiba. Both were held in a water binding jutsu. But worse, she had one of the children.

The little girl, who had been following Sakura around in an almost academy fan-girlish way. She hadn't fled with the others!

Now that they had a hostage, they demanded Shibuki come out with the Hero Water.

Slowly rising out of the water he caught Sakura's eye and she signed to him, protect the leader. Well… if she thought she could tough it out or escape then he would trust her.

The last of the hired leaf ninja turned and began following the way Shibuki had swam.

It didn't take him long to catch up, and when he did he found himself in tunnels inside the great tree of thiers.

He found the leader of Takigakure sitting, leaned against the side of the tree tunnel. He had a vial of water in his had and he just sat there looking at it.

"I assume that is the hero water they are here for?"

The teen just nodded.

"What is it?"

"It is the essence of the great tree itself. A holy water to my people. It grants the drinker an extreme chakra boost to the degree of the life gates! But like them, it will cut short your life. My father died because he drank this to protect our village."

"Okay, so you can't use enough of it without dying and they can just use small enough amounts for it not to affect them, they would still outclass us with just a sip. Do I understand your dilemma?"

Shibuki, now wide eyed, could only nod at the simple description of his turmoil.

With a hand faster then either of them could see Sasuke smashed the vial. Shibuki dropped and grabbed at the dirt it had landed in "Why!" He nearly screamed, if he hadn't been whispering.

"Because you need to rely on your self. That kind of power won't help you get anywhere. And besides now that its gone they have nothing to gain."

Turning he shouted out to the village. "I smashed your Stupid Water Jar; this won't get you anything now."

"If you're not going to bring out the Hero Water, we'll have to convince you."

Looking out he saw them grab the girl and drag her away from Sakura. When she fought to hold onto the girl the water ropes that held her were electrified. The ninja looked over the tree again. And Sasuke had to step back.

Then it started. He could hear the beating. They were going to hurt a little kid to get him out! He turned back to the looking point, and quickly formed a plan.

The woman had the girl held in a suiton rope jutsu. He would send a kunai through her arm and then hit the leader of the group with his _Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu, _The Great Fireball.

When he moved to dodge or deflect it, Sasuke could use _Ikazuchi no Kiba_ the fangs of lightning, on the weaker two. Their water jutsu was mute against it and then he could focus on the strongest one.

The plan of action formed he got up to leap out. Then he felt it, an enormous pressure building up behind him. He had just enough time to turn and _see_ the fist and then it was all pain. A knee to the stomach and then fist blows from everywhere. And he was put into the wall of the tree.

0o0o0

When he came to, he saw the dirt that had been soaked with the Hero Water, had all been dug up.

It was obvious what had happened. That coward had eaten the dirt to get at the Hero Water! Then the coward had hit him from behind.

Outside the tree was a mess. As he made his way down he glance around for his teammates.

How could he look them in the eye after this?

0o0o0

As Sakura continued to ignore his injuries, the Uchiha resigned himself to just working through it, like before she became a medic.

Her word after this latest failure traced his ears again.

"Maybe I'm just letting the guy who saved my life… TWICE… express his anger at the _murderer_ who _failed_ our _mission!_" He had heard her squeal at a higher pitch, but the anger he heard this time, was far worse than anything Kiba had ever drawn out of her.

He wasn't sure how he had pissed her off, but every time he thought about her calling him a murderer he felt sick. It wasn't right. So maybe she wasn't a fan girl anymore, now she was his teammate, still… why did it hurt to think she might hate him?

He had only been acting on the mission. He had taken out an enemy shinobi who had tried to kill them. The kill _was_ justified. If Kiba had gone through with that second attack _he_ would have been the one going over the edge.

Sasuke began listening to Sakura and Kiba's conversation again, when she told them about Naruto's promotion over a week ago. Kiba acted upset over it but his heart wasn't in it. To him Naruto had _earned_ the rank.

As much as Sasuke hated to admit it, Naruto _had_ earned it. He wasn't angry at Naruto or even jealous of him. But the Uchiha loathed that he had let the dead last surpass him.

A few weeks after he had gotten out of the hospital, he had done a little research on his blond & hyper rival.

What he learned was astounding. At the rate Naruto trained it was small wonder that he had gotten so much better.

Even then when Kakashi had begun training them seriously they hadn't gone over 7 hours, half what Naruto did every day. But that hadn't been all the Uchiha learned.

He'd also realized that the glares and such he'd noticed Naruto getting in the academy weren't just from pranks. There were so many people who just outright hated him. Even after his efforts during the invasion.

So he began in on Kakashi. And their sensei had been more then willing to encourage his training.

The lazy jonin began to send Sakura to the hospital and made more time to train him. She would make a great medic. Her control was far better than his, but she lacked any combat skills. She would need to train on evasive combat.

Sasuke now woke up and trained in the Uchiha clan jutsu and at dawn he would go to Kakashi for individual training. Kiba had received it from his clan and Sakura was getting it from the hospital.

At noon they would go on the mission and then they trained in taijutsu, and Kakashi had forbidden him from using the Sharingan during spars, he could understand though.

Kakashi faints almost every time he uses his, so he wanted Sasuke to be able to fight without it. Besides, they had trained on using it during the mornings anyway.

And after that Kakashi had them work on their ninjutsu and let them train how they wanted the rest of the day.

0o0o0

Eventually even Kiba asked why Sakura wasn't healing Sasuke. Her reply was almost funny yet changed the subject without telling them anything.

"You think I would practice my medical jutsu on _him!_ What if I made a mistake?"

At Kiba's look of anger, she burst out laughing and punched his arm. "Don't worry Kiba, I'd never actually use a medical jutsu on you, without finishing it first."

Maybe that forced day off had helped her more then expected.

Gripping his neck, Sasuke wished he could talk to that Sannin Naruto trained with. He felt a radiating pain from _that_ seal, every time he got angry or exerted himself too much. And Kakashi's _Curse Sealing Jutsu_ wasn't stopping it anymore. He didn't know what kind of powerful gift Orochimaru expected him to gain by hurting him like this, but he knew how powerful the Sannin was. And Kakashi just couldn't fix this.

0o0o0

When Tenten landed, after Gai dropped her, she again regretted her decision - although a forced decision – to train today.

Over the past few days she had been working in her dads shop. Doing everything and anything she could that didn't involve her team, shuriken, or little children. She only ate when he made her sit down and eat with him and hardly slept. She just kept repeating it to herself. "Child killer"

This morning wasn't going to be any different. September 8th, 7 days ago, a little boy named Tsugakumaru died, at the age of 7. 'No,' she corrected herself, '_murdered_ at the age of 7'

Standing up Tenten began the warm-up for training. Gai had gone so far as to literally _carry_ her out here. She didn't want to know how he would _force_ her to _train_.

She tried to blink away her now perpetual tears, only to make it worse

She could still see her extreme giant shuriken parting the boy as if in slow motion and then continuing on its way towards Mondaimaru.

Finished with her warm-up, the grief and guilt stricken kunoichi began the first of many laps across the village.

As she ran she pressed her thoughts away and entered a trance, there was no mission, no village, just the next 100 meters. And the next after those. When she finally finished she was exhausted.

Simply dropping down she rested in the field. Gai came over from where Lee was training for that _chakra-less_ jutsu.

She only got a glimpse of it but it seemed like lee was now hitting 5 targets. Five dots placed evenly in a circle. And each time he hit one he would move to the next, but not the adjacent dot. He would skip one every time he hit it, like making a star. Right – left – bottom right – top – bottom left – and right again. And doing this while trying to hit it at the same rate as before!

Taking a look at Gai as he approached, she wondered what he would do if Lee ever gained use of his chakra, he had gone so far to create a chakra-less jutsu just for him.

0o0o0

Gai left Lee to the new step of his training. He was so proud of his student.

0o0o0

He had no choice but to break _that_ promise. So he summoned the shielding shell of the black water tortoise Kame-Byakuya. It reflected the blast in all directions and then a fist hit him, a fist that had punched _through_ the shield, dispersing it. Byakuya-san was going to be un-youthfully pissed at him.

The ruthless teen had him at the advantage. Then Lee had run in and kicked his chin up preparing for the Omote Renge and it did nothing. His jaw didn't even move.

But his arm did. He grabbed Lee's leg from his chin and with a twist of his wrist, he gave it a snap. There was no show of force or even effort, just twist and snap.

Yanking the same leg, the beast of a kid tossed Gai's little green student aside.

He again went after Tenten. Gai was only _just,_ able to grab her and pull her away from his fist, as it smashed down into the ground creating an impacted crater the likes of which were the signature of Tsunade Senju.

0o0o0

When they finally got home, Gai looked down to his precious student, for the second time, in a hospital bed. He felt as if he had betrayed Lee. And Lee still fought on.

Seeing his sensei upset, Lee made the conclusion of why, and replied with more conviction than Gai had seen from him since the exam.

"Gai-sensei, remember during the battle? You… you used summening and katon jutsu."

Here it was he had to be angry about it or worse _disappointed_ in his sensei!

"Just before that... I told you to do whatever it took." Lee looked him in the eye. "I meant _anything_, even _jutsu._ Tenten is worth more than any promise. All the youth in the world would be a waste, _all of it_, if Tenten had been sacrificed just because I couldn't do jutsu."

"I want you to forget that promise you made to me. Training me to be a shinobi means I will have to fight against jutsu. I'm not going to get better at it if I don't train against jutsu too."

Gai felt his eyes watering up as he grasped Lee in a bear hug. Promising that, before Lee was in another battle, his sensei would beat him over the head with _all_ his jutsu.

0o0o0

Clearing his head, the sublime green beast looked upon a harder and more painful job then confronting Lee had been. It was time for Tenten to deal with this.

Her father had been angry enough at him, but he felt she needed to sort through things for a few days.

Maybe she could figure it out, but mostly she needed to calm down. Had he tried to deal with it then, she likely would have broken down.

As he stood there gazing at her she began to shift, she must have felt it was her fault. Did she think he was about to punish her?

"Tenten, a few days ago, a young boy jumped in front of your attack and got himself killed." She flinched and then her head came up. She was already crying.

"He jumped out on his own. _After_ you threw the shuriken! His death was in no way your doing. And your actions were in no way wrong."

She made an attempt to protest to tell him it was her fault but he simply closed his eyes, crossed his arms, and looked away. Not even going to listen too it. She caught this and immediately dropped her head in silence.

"Tenten, you should speak about this and let yourself hear the truth from your own mouth." He sucked in air in a deep inhale and exhaled with a heavy sigh.

"I suggest you make an appointment with Mitate again. He will talk you through this just as he did after _that_ mission."

Mitate was the same medical ninja assigned to battle counseling for this generation. As far as medical jutsu went he was a little below average but still good enough to make a full diagnostic. His real strength lay in his long-term work with those who had been injured severely.

When she nodded he knew she still had doubts about whether or not she'd actually go, but he also had another incentive.

"You know… My rival has informed me that you might have company when you see Mitate. Apparently someone else's first kill, was also a young girl. She will need support from someone who can relate to her."

With that parting wisdom, the jonin trudged back to the center of the field and began doing katas and stances. His eyes never leaving her long.

* * *

-Note-

There will be one more chapter of this before I return to the sand.

I realize that I made a gender mistake on Tsume Inuzuka's Dog, but it was already incorporated into the story. Therefore, Kuromaru, is now a girl.

The lightning jutsu is from Kakashi. Remember it had been a little over a month of real training. And that is all it took Sasuke to get the Chidroi down. Lightning fang is basically just a lightning bolt.

Then it was another month before he even started learning the Chidori. He just now used it on the last mission they came back from in the last chapter. This is about three months after the preliminaries.

I realize that this is the second little kid that has been killed and I'm not going to be all dark and such, this will not be a normal thing. It is just that it happens. And in the life of a shinobi there are worse things that happen.

And yes, Tenten had made her first kill already but there is a big difference in intentionally killing a full grown shinobi trying to kill _you_ and accidentally killing a little kid who wasn't involved.

Mitate is the guy who told them about Lee never being a shinobi again, but I gave him a little more to work on.

Oh!... If any of you can figure out what I'm planning, PM it. I'd like to keep the spoilers sparse.


	6. A Rising Conflict

SAND

**A Rising Conflict**

_For the Sake of Pain_

* * *

Sakura was showing a vast improvement from the last time she had sparred with _them_. She had poured over the Taijutsu manual during her three days of having it.

However she couldn't face Lee this time. Instead Gai-sensei had asked her to spar with Hinata. There was to be no jutsu and Hinata couldn't use jyuuken. This would help train them both.

Sakura used her new taijutsu greatly, her footing had been perfected and her strikes were more fluid than ever, but it was all in her head, and she needed to plan and think before each move. For Hinata this was just enough time to dodge every single attack.

By the time it was over Sakura was worn out and Hinata… well, she seemed just as tired as when she finished her warm-up. As if the spar had only been as tough as that. Sakura blanched inside at the 'injured' girl's superiority.

Hinata though, saw the gap a little more extreme, during the spar she had still been holding back, but Sakura was just too weak even hold her ground.

0o0o0

Shikamaru finally got back to the training ground. Today had been a very aggravating day. He couldn't even just call it troublesome and quit.

That bastard-sensei must have been laughing his ass off in the classroom, while _he _had to deal with the instructor's students.

Being a Chunin sucked. That little brat whined all day long, and he was supposed to do this by himself till Naruto got back! It was such a drag, why couldn't he get a mission with less trouble? Like gate duty or hell, he'd even take border patrol!

As he stepped up on the porch Asuma grinned, as a true Nara, he had already figured out that he was screwed over by that grin. The moment he pulled his chair out his sensei set his cigarette down and asked if Shikamaru was just going to laze about all day! As if he hadn't just got back from a mission.

Asuma insisted that he still had energy to train with, and it was time for a spar. Quickly refusing he made to sit down when Asuma's grin got wider.

"If your ass touches that chair before you beat me in a spar I'll have you leading a genin team on a B-rank." Shikamaru met his level gaze with a blank stare of his own.

"I refuse"

"Won't be up to you if I ask the Hokage to assign it"

"He wouldn't use a mission involving genin as a punishment."

"No, he wouldn't" The jonin said as he replaced his cigarette in his mouth, "but, he _has_ been wanting to test you out in the field anyway. He just needs the right mission."

"But he won't force me to go on it so soon after my promotion"

"Won't have to, I think he'd be more interested in what your mom would think about her son, _a Chunin,_ declining a mission assigned to him _directly from the Hokage._"

He knew he was trapped. A genin could refuse because they didn't have the experience, a jonin could get away with it because they had other duties and had the responsibility not to abuse it, but a Chunin was stuck.

With that Shikamaru's thin patience snapped like an over stretched rubber band. He had had enough of everybody using his promotion as an excuse to get him to work more.

"_Oh come on,_ I was **cheated**. I even forfeited my match but they _still_ sack me with the extra and _unwanted _responsibility.

And **you!** … You didn't even give me a _chance! No _you just go and accept it not even bothering to tell me until you tossed the vest at me like-like-like it was some! _Free!_ _**Coupon**_**!"**

He stopped yelling once he was out of breath, how Ino could do that one breath shrieking for so long was a mystery.

Everybody was staring in shock at him, Asuma's cigarette had fallen to the ground and Ino's eyes looked ready to pop out. He had never spoken like that before! So much anger, rage… _Passion _

0o0o0

The place looked nice. Tenten had heard that Kurenai was a messy house keeper. That meant Hinata had probably been the one to clean it.

The reason Tenten was in Kurenai-sensei's house was in part, a way to help a friend, and also to get away from Gai and do something that would take her mind of _that_ mission.

A few days ago, when she had first been carried back out to the training grounds, Hinata had expressed her frustration with the sealing jutsu.

It seemed that when she unsealed her kunai, the sealing paper was destroyed. She'd burnt herself when it happened.

Kurenai-sensei was out doing Hokage stuff and Hinata knew she was good at this, so they made a day of it. Hopefully a good day without thinking about _that, _would do better then yesterday's therapy.

Tenten had agreed to take the counseling and it did help. She had stopped crying, but that was about all it did. The other girl though hadn't even told them she wouldn't be there, she just simply didn't come.

As Hinata burned through another seal Tenten saw the problem. The seal wasn't given a line of exit. In other words, Hinata was using a one-way door to put the kunai in and then taking it right back out the same door.

The weapons mistress quickly explained why she needed to place a retrieval seal and how it interlocked with the rest of the seal. The scroll was not trying to take the kunai out, but put another one in, and so it broke.

As she finished the explanation, other scrolls came into her mind, the ones she had gathered from _there._ It was all that was left of them. Their clan jutsu scrolls.

She remembered Mondaimaru's tears as he grabbed her again from Gai and finally Gai hit him, _hard._

And began to bust him apart. He had used the 6th gate, and covered his entire body in a flame jutsu. And now he was going to kill the boy. He wasn't as strong, but his skill was _that_ vast.

Every hit burned and the boy screamed in pain and fury. She couldn't help but think she deserved what he was going to do. She had just cut his little brother in half.

But she could do nothing as she watched Gai use fire and fists to sear him, burn him, and brake him, every time they met and then… with one final burst Mondaimaru was finished, burned alive, his flesh melting and crisping, until all that was left was a mass of blackened corpse, and her broken Sensei, too torn-up to move.

0o0o0

A furious knocking on the door brought the girl out of her waking nightmare. Wasting no time, Hinata answered the door and invited her teammate in.

Lee had been sent because they had been issued a mission. An important one. They needed to leave at once.

0o0o0

As the Hyuuga retainer left Kurenai leaned back and rubbed her temple. She had gotten nothing important out of this one. But more whispers of Hinata's abuse had been added to the pile. This time it was how her father had taken ever single picture of her mother and gotten rid of them. She had heard about the beating the girl had been given for singing a lullaby from her.

Voice-sama had been looking into everything. Not just Mattai, but also the Hokage and Danzo. She'd found out as much as she could about Hinata's life, her mom, and how she was viewed in the clan. And more about Naruto, so much more.

None of this had been in the Hokage's record, but Danzo had either kept a better watch on him or had been more revealing. Yet none of the sources she pulled had any thing conclusive on her mission.

It turned out that several of the anbu were working for Danzo and had been sealed from speaking about things.

However they were able to tell her everything Danzo had intended for Naruto. As it turns out the whole feud between him and the Hokage had been because he wouldn't let Danzo train Naruto the way he should be. Before that they had been almost allies, but since that first fight, Danzo had deemed Hiruzen too weak to run the village right.

Danzo had kept records of Naruto at all times. He knew everything about him. She poured over Danzo's files on Naruto and crossed them over with what she learned from her interviews, which held more detail and emotion. The file told her the 'what' and 'when,' but Voice-sama discovered the why and the horrible little things, like if he begged or just whimpered. More and more she began to hate this village. The village, the villagers, and the Sandaime.

0o0o0

When Kurenai-sensei suggested _that_ song Hinata almost passed out. They were once again at the karaoke bar. In their private room, it seemed okay to be herself; there was no acting like she was still hurt and no worrying about what others would think.

However the song her surrogate mother had picked for her to sing was something she had lost a long time ago. It was the lullaby her mother used to sing to her.

This one song had brought back years of memories she had missed. How had she known? How could Kurenai-sensei pick the song her father had forbidden her from even whispering at night?

As she sang, her sensei drank. It didn't seem like heavy drinking, she would just sip her beverage. But soon her sensei could no longer sing, and quickly after, she lost her balance as well.

Hinata took this as a sign that it was time to go home. Yet… She had never been so open before. Not since her mother had died. She didn't want to leave this room, or loose the freedom she was feeling in this moment.

So she refilled the elder woman's cup and filled one of her own as well. She began to tell Kurenai about her mother, telling her everything she could remember, right up until _that_ day.

Then Kurenai spoke, telling her that it was not her fault that her father couldn't take it. And that the song and the pictures, they were all a way of her father's to erase his own pain, even at the cost of hurting her. Not that he cared.

Not that any Hyuuga cared. They were all a poisoned line, of which there had only been three she had known, who deserved to live. In-fact Hinata was the only one left alive that did. After what _he_ did, the rest of them deserved to die. They were all the same and if she ever had the chance, she would make Hinata an orphan.

Who was _he_? Hinata asked herself. And in a moment of thinking through what they had said, she realized that it was her father Kurenai had been referring to. She also realized that Kurenai had an extreme hatred of her dad, one that was far deeper then just what happened to her.

She decided to find out more. Why did her sensei hate him so much, her answer was that he had been the one to take everything from the woman when she had been a genin. And the bastard had continued to take. He had profited from several disasters and even his own daughters had been nothing but a means to profit for him. There were also his actions toward Naruto.

The orphanage Naruto was in as a child had starved him. And after it was found out, the Hokage had replaced some of the workers. One he had placed there was a Hyuuga, who swiftly kicked the starving child out on the streets.

And it was a Hyuuga _clan _scheme that hid the fact from the Hokage's eyes for almost a whole year. He had been four at the time and had to dig food out of the garbage. That was also when he had found his love for ramen.

Soon the discussion had stopped being about the Hyuuga, as Kurenai drank more, and told Hinata everything that she had discovered about Naruto; From the assassination attempts; to the attempts to adopt him.

Things such as when he was eight a group of kids had been invited and he was one of them. However, when he got there, since he was dirty from training, they said they'd help him clean up. They _did _clean off the dirt, but they also peeled his skin off in strips. He was half skinned when the anbu arrived and killed them.

And when he was ten, he had been caught for a prank he'd pulled, and they literally gutted him. and the damned pain endurance tests in the academy. There were several other extreme horrors that had happened to him. All of them had been discretely erased from his mind by none other than Hatake Kakashi. The same bastard they tried to put in charge of him during the team assignments.

Would this have continued had he been put on team seven? Hinata no longer felt the sense of freedom she had held onto earlier.

0o0o0

With team Gai out on a mission Sakura and Hinata were left to train alone. They kept there distance from each other and only spoke a word of greeting when Sakura had arrived.

Hinata thought over what her sensei had said the day before, about what had been done to Naruto, and how they hadn't even let him remember that he'd been wronged. How much had they gotten away with? And had they done it to others?

It was as they were finishing off their respective taijutsu routines, that her emotions of rage towards what had been done become noticeable to Sakura.

Once the other girl notice the quiet rage building in her, she broke the silence, with the first topic she could think of.

"So… I was surprised when I heard that _Naruto_ was made a Chunin."

"He deserved it. He worked hard to get there and did it with everything against him." Replied the injured girl.

Hearing this Sakura decided to ignore the girl's anger issue at the moment and set her strait.

"What do you mean everything was against him? He never even tried to do anything right in class, and he got away with so many annoying tricks and traps just because he didn't have any parents and no one would punish him for it.

"If he had worked harder instead of being such a pervert he would have passed the real exam, and the Hokage shouldn't have passed him out of pity in the first place."

"You don't know anything about it, Naruto's graduation, and his life, he had to work hard for everything he has and he isn't a pervert."

Hinata's anger was going to boil over and this pink haired Fan-girl was only making things worse. She didn't even know what she was talking about! But Hinata did. Only now did she know what he had dealt with.

"Then why did he waste his time making that vulgar perverts' jutsu? Do you even know how many times he walked into the girls' bath under it?

"He was always hitting on me and peeping at me. Okay, I get that he didn't have parents to teach him how wrong he was acting, but you would think he would have learned after the first few time I hit him!"

"You were _always_ hitting him!" Hinata was shouting now. "He loved you and you were nothing but mean to him! You never gave him the time of day! So how would you even know what he's like, or what he's had to deal with!"

Why did this little bitch keep defending him like he had a hard life? Sakura knew the girl was in love with the _Demon child_, as many elders had called him, but Sasuke's entire family had been killed right in front of him and he never acted like that asshole.

"Hmf, I'm willing to bet the whole reason he stopped causing me trouble, is because he's going after your sensei now!"

Sakura didn't even see Hinata lash out, but the strike had knocked her across the training ground.

When she righted herself, she saw Hinata up in the air. Her body was spinning, and she had one leg strait down while the other was horizontal, with the knee at a right angle and her foreleg trailing behind.

It looked almost like dancing, then the shin of said leg hit her full force, on the side of the face. It sent her flying, and as she tumbled she saw and felt Hinata continue. A punch here, a kick there.

She was being bounced around like a game ball. Finally she caught the ground and swung an uppercut. Hinata's assault broke.

Taking the break, she launched her own attack, slamming her fist into Hinata's stomach. Her arm was locked and she was flung to the earth.

She pulled Hinata down with her and they struggled for dominance. Sakura came up on top.

Grabbing one of the Hyuuga's hands Sakura slammed her other palm into the bitch's face.

Hinata rolled them and crushed her forearm against Sakura's neck. Sakura used the earth jutsu she'd been working on to push her feet up, tipping them forward and throwing Hinata in the air.

Sakura pressed chakra to her feet and flipped them from the upheaval she had made. Then with her arms she launched herself off the ground, sending both feet into the Hyuuga's stomach. Hinata soared across the field, and bounced when she landed.

As the weaker girl moved to get up Sakura told her to stay down, "You should have learned what happens after your last suicide stand."

It was a hint at her match in the exam. And there, with those words, Hinata knew she would hurt Sakura.

"Get away from here"

"Why? Because you can't stand loosing… again! I don't know how that _demon_ was able to fool you like this. He didn't work for anything. He was pathetic and a pervert in the academy, and he was a complete filthy waste of flesh as a genin, and then he somehow gets training from a Sannin that _should_ have gone to the _rookie of the year!—"_

"**Leave!" **Hinata shouted. If she heard one more word she wasn't sure she would hold anything back.

The Hyuuga stood from the ground, tossing her sweater back down. Sakura felt the killing intent roll off of her in waves.

Sakura took a good look at her with out the jacket and saw her arms were thick like a boy's with heavily defined muscles and her shoulders were broader than her figure suggested. And to Sakura's surprise, the smallish girl's breasts had developed_ well_ already. They shouldn't have started at all. Sakura's hadn't. In all she didn't seem to have any injuries left over.

"Why do you keep this up, why even like him… everything I said was true and yet you stand up for him."

Hinata walk slowly around her, only a meter but Sakura had to turn to keep facing her strait on. She would make Hinata see how what he really was. And how he had ruined everything by beating Sasuke. "The only way a Sannin would take an interest in the dead last of the class is if your sensei seduced him into it."

Hinata's arms went up and out to her sides and then she was in front of Sakura, the pink haired kunoichi never even saw her move. The Hyuuga struck and it seemed like her arms had become many more than two.

Sakura realized that Hinata was just moving faster than her eyes could see and she realized this as she felt her entire body get struck with the gentle fist at once. Then the world in front of her was sucked away she felt the wind pulling at her and something slammed into her back.

All of her air had been sucked out, she couldn't breath she couldn't move, it felt as if she were still being pulled away,

Hinata picked up her sweater and without even a glance in the direction of the uncurious girl leaned against a training post she walked off.

0o0o0

The session with her counselor left Sakura feeling only tired. Tenten hadn't come this time, but she had been told that next time they would both be required to attend. It was okay. Maybe she could ask the senior kunoichi for a spar. She had been told she needed to learn evasive combat and training with Tenten would help.

When she first heard that Tenten was in there too, she had skipped the session, because she didn't want her to know that she had been in there. Then the second time they were to meet she got up the courage. And that was today, but the girl had left for a mission a few days ago.

She didn't think that these sessions were helping anyway. She knew she had needed something because she started getting angry at everything and when it got too much her sensei had made her leave the team until she could sort through it.

She had thought that telling her friend about it had been enough, she had felt better, and it was actually Ino's dad who said she should she see the counselor. He had told her about it after Ino blabbed. He'd shown up at her house and came right in her room to tell her that her best friend had blabbed.

As she was leavening Sakura saw Hinata waiting for her. Sakura had thought over every word spoken and couldn't deny that she had been the one to cause the fight. She knew Hinata was angry about something and still insulted her sensei like that.

"Haruno-san I request that you don't inform anybody of our transgression the day before yesterday."

"Look, I said some things that morning that I didn't mean, and things that I know aren't true. I deserved to be put in my place for insulting your sensei like that."

"_Just don't tell anyone." _Hinata replied through grit teeth.

0o0o0

The next day team seven finally got a C-rank mission. They were hired to catch a pet snake, of all things, in the land of rivers. The lord who owned it had relied on a trainer to control it. The trainer had gone missing, and now it was killing people.

So they were to catch it and put it down, before it cost the lord any more compensations.

0o0o0

The Hokage, Inoichi Yamanaka and Ibiki were discussing the troubling news they had discovered. Or Inoichi and Ibiki were reporting their information as the Sandaime stood at the window and stewed.

"There is nothing, Sandaime-sama. It's as if the two hours were never even there. I have never seen a mind alteration jutsu able to produce that effect so cleanly." Inoichi concluded his report.

"There are more people than on your watch list, but most of those we have identified do have a connection to _that_ mission." The Interrogator informed them. "It seems Hiashi was right. What will she do when she has found what she's looking for?"

Finally the Hokage set his pipe down and looked at them. "She won't find what she's looking for, she may find closure in that issue, but it won't be what she searches for. I'm afraid what she may find is worse than her old theories."

With a great sigh the elder eased into his chair. "I did choose her for a reason. Granted the biggest part was so she could pass her experience in the Hokage's office to Naruto; but also so she could do exactly this. She has found for us many of those who would get in the way of the path of fire. I can't very well leave my second successor unprepared can I." The old man had been here too long and he was _going_ to make sure Tsunade did things right! and that she secured Naruto's future.

"What could she possibly learn that's worse than the conspiracies she believes?" Ibiki had listened to all of the young survivor's stories and he was sure they were overly dramatic and complicated. many of them had been more grief than reason. The ones that had been reason had involved the entire clan conspiring against her teammate as a person.

"The truth."

0o0o0

Omake: Journey of the Quick.

Team Gai had been hired by the land of hot waters to deliver an object of high value across the great nations in only 6 days.

First, they had to travel to the Takumi village to pick up a sword. It was supposed to be delivered over a week ago by the village's regular merchants. But due to bandits stealing all of Takumi's shipments that went out for the past few weeks, it was held up.

In exchange for delivering the package the land of hot waters was wiling to pay for it with another treasure that they had saved for years.

Lee, Gai and Tenten had easily arrive, secured the sword and deliver it. It was quick and easy with no trouble at all. They received the treasure in a chest locked with a key and began heading back for Konoha.

But on their way back, they were ambushed; they were surrounded by a group of bandits.

Gai gave the order, and the team attacked. However as they fought they realized that these bandits were surviving far better then they should.

Lee's hits and Tenten's kunai just bounced off their armor. Only the wires and environmental obstacles they had made seemed to hinder them.

When Lee asked about it, one of the bandits said that this was the special armor they had stolen from the Takumi village. It was made to survive almost any attack. It was the most expensive armor they could steal.

Finally the leader of the group came out and demanded the treasure of the hot waters.

They stole so they could party and if they had such a treasure as what this team was carrying they could party with more fun than ever.

Gai, who had been laden with the chest, suggested a challenge; A one on one match between his genin and their strongest fighter.

Seeing this as an easy win the bandits agreed, they even said he could have the first attack.

Bracing his feet Lee griped his bicep and pulled his arm back. Then he began to vibrate it, punching the air in a motion of blur. The bandit had given him one free punch and he wasn't going to waste it.

Racing forward he shouted "Hidden Star Punch" and slammed his vibrating fist into the bandits chest. Into the armor that had been tempered to withstand anything.

The impact bent the armor like ripples in the water and continued to sink into it.

The rest of the bandits looked at it in shock and Gai explained that the extremely rapid hit had not bent it. Instead it had vibrated the armor into moving, while the star shape kept it from only hitting only one spot and punching through. This way the build up of vibrations causes damage to the organs as well.

With that done, they resumed their return and as they walked Gai informed Lee that now he had mastered this, the second stage, he must master the final step of the jutsu: The Hidden Lotus Fist.

When they returned to the Hokage's office, the Hokage took out the key that had been sent by pigeon, and he opened the chest. In the end, the valuable treasure they had exhausted themselves for was a bottle of Mount Myouboku sake. A large bottle but still!

-Note-

I know that these two chapters are really small, but that was how I divided them in my notes. And they turned out to be smaller then_ guessed._ And! There are two of them! And I have been working on the four pilot chapters of my other current Fan-fictions.

It was Kakashi who told Inoichi and Gai, in hopes that Inoichi could help sort her out. And he agreed since it was Ino's friend.

The Anbu mentioned were Root or others, and they were just telling her what Danzo let them. Her jutsu will not detect truth or false only lies, so if the root member were taught that this is true when it wasn't, she wouldn't catch it. So as long as they believed a lie she would see it as truth in the jutsu.

And remember, what she learns and tells Hinata, are her point of view, on what _Danzo_ let her know. Some things may sound harsh, but that is just how she see's them.

Yes, I'm giving Naruto those bad incidents. No, he doesn't remember them. And no he won't ever remember them. But something else _will_ happen because of them. And yes there will be words between Kakashi and Kurenai. And no her jutsu won't work on him.

And Sakura's feelings toward Naruto are because she has been badly informed. Remember she still thinks Naruto was trained by Jiraiya **_before_** he beat Sasuke. So basically she has the same opinion as the academy, but with him graduating out of the Hokage's favoritism and getting trained by a Sannin, when it should have been Sasuke to get the training. and she thinks that it was only the Sannin's work that made him a good ninja.

You go ahead and ponder the _truth_ I spoke of.

Also the hidden star punch was not the jutsu he is learning just one stage of it, there is an end result.

Stay tuned for the next chapter. And contemplate what the village pariah could teach Gaara about attention disorders.

While Retro will be my main Fic, Four others are on my list to work on at the moment: The LATE Naruto, Life After The Ends; Uzumaki - a Lone Fox; The Thousand Ninja; and Village Hidden in Plain Sight. Descriptions on profile.


	7. In Deep Sand

SAND

**In Deep Sand**

_For the Sake of Pain_

* * *

- Forenote - Previously with Naruto

0o0o0

"Good, good," the Hokage said, fumbling with his pipe. He sighed and tapped out the ashes and set it down. "I was about to send a runner out to find you"

He leaned back in his chair a little. "I've asked Jiraiya to assist in the return of the Kazekage's children, and he believes that as your team was the one to apprehend them, it would be useful if certain members of Team 8 tagged along."

0o0o0

Naruto resisted the urge to cheer. Seeing Hinata's face out of the corner of his eye, watching it relax as a small smile formed on her lips, made it even harder. Then a questioning thought hit him. "Um, if she isn't going…. Then who…-"

"That is an excellent question," the Sandaime cut in. "_And_ it brings me to the next topic of this mission. This is Haku." The Chunin took a step forward. "_He_ will be accompanying you to the nation of sand."

0o0o0

Hinata reached over to her seemingly bottomless pack and began unpacking books. As she did she was reading off descriptions of the books she had brought and he could tell she had read most of them. She explained them all in a fashion that left him wondering how the book ended.

Finally, she starts telling him about a book where a man had been lost in the desert for over a year and how he had survived. At first he didn't think it was that interesting, but she started reading it to him anyway. And soon enough he was lost in the desert as she described what the man went through. Constantly in search of water, hiding from sand storms and the isolation, had effects on his mind and he eventually began talking to a rock. By the time he found his way to a village he was convinced the rock was a real person. And for years later he longed to see his friend Sasori again.

They had lost themselves in the book, until she began dozing off. She had stopped reading for a whole three minutes before Naruto noticed she was falling asleep. Reaching over he taps her on the shoulder. "hehh." her eyes only opened a crack, "Uhmm, Hinata?" She look at him and started to come out of it.

He couldn't just send her back home, Naruto decided. She would probably fall asleep in the street. "Hey Hinata, do you think you might want to spend the night?"

0o0o0

As Naruto looked a little glow began above the Sanin's callused palm. Little wisps of chakra gathered and swirled. It spun in every direction Naruto could see. Almost as soon as it began, the chakra was a round swirling mass the size of his head.

"Take a good look boy, for _I _am going to teach _you_ **The Rasengan!**" With the declaration he brought his hands together and the Rasengan ate through the block of wood until it was gone.

0o0o0

He pulled out a yellow ball and tossed it to him. Seeing the extra ball Naruto glares at him "You liar! You said there was only one ball." Jiraiya waved a finger at him "No this one's yellow. That one was blue. And I only had one blue one." He said it as if that was explanation enough. Naruto tried to push it further but Jiraiya just told him if he really didn't want to learn it… and let the statement hang. Naruto grudgingly relents. "Besides, using clones at the same time will just split you focus."

0o0o0

"Well, I need to know how to suppress the Kyuubi's chakra. It's getting in the way." Jiraiya nodded and crossed his arms. "Mind explaining _how_ it's getting in the way"

Naruto told him about how Hinata had discovered the bits of chakra running down his legs when he tried to water walk. And how he had stopped them from disrupting his other jutsu. He finished by telling him how the Kyuubi's chakra was affecting his control of the Rasengan.

After he told Jiraiya about this, the old man thought. It was easy to see he hadn't considered this. Finally Jiraiya let out a heavy sigh. "Naruto, I think you may have just hit a wall. You won't be able to control the Rasengan until you can control the Kyuubi's chakra."

0o0o0

As the sun finally peaked out on the horizon, they could see the base of a mountain jutting out of the sand. The Sannin, halted the jog and began descending the sand dune ahead of the rest. Kankuro and his siblings were home. He turned to the escort, "We're here. _This _is the village hidden in the sand."

0o0o0 And the story continues

* * *

As the troupe descended Naruto couldn't hold in his excitement, He was finally going to see another ninja village! It was all he could do to keep himself composed as they reached the first guard post.

Jiraiya who had gone ahead was now speaking to one of the guards as he waited for a higher authority to arrive. Many of them seemed to be perverts by the way they idolized him. However as the guards caught sight of Gaara they all went silent.

Glancing over, the excited blond saw Gaara's head lower. The blond kunoichi also saw this and moved closer to her youngest brother. Temari wouldn't allow anyone to harm him, even with their glares. And so she began to glare back, and wasn't surprised when the rest of the group did as well, even the pretty mist ninja.

For a brief moment Shino recalled Team Eight's first walk through the village together, it was quite similar in the respect that Gaara was for the very first time protected from the glares as Naruto had been.

They waited in silence, until an elite shinobi, whom Kankuro identified as Baki-sensei, came at a dead run. With a few words to the guard post he turned to the gathered visitors and greeted them. With his go ahead, the group of shinobi was let through.

They passed between the two massive walls. Guards littered the sides in grooves that had been carved out. Many of the grooves showed damage from previous battles.

"This is where the majority of Suna's home field battles happen; outside of aerial attacks nothing can enter our village without passing through here." Kankuro informed them. "It is the reason that our village is one of the best defended of the five."

They exited the crevice and entered the actual village. It was a bland colorless city, with tall structures and hard packed streets. It looked as if everything had been made of stone or mud.

For the first part of passing through the village the villagers were stunned at seeing them. Then they gathered more, all the children seemingly vanished and the women closed doors and windows. As more men and shinobi gathered the glares got worse. By the time they reached their destination tensions were high.

They weren't sure if it was them being from the leaf or Gaara being with them. But in either case weapons had been drawn. Haku was apparently drinking from a water skin, Kankuro was twirling his fingers upon which a rock was attached by chakra thread, Shino's 'allies' had began buzzing, and Temari had opened her fan to its first mark.

Unlike the others Naruto and Gaara seemed to have not been affected by the hatred pointing their way, instead Gaara was quietly telling Naruto about the sweat baths in the village. This had the elite Suna shinobi rather unnerved as he led them through the main street. Only able to breathe once they reached the center of the village, where a large domed structure awaited them. And just outside the doors to said structure was a group of Suna elders and elite jonin.

"We bid you welcome to our village, great Sannin. And we thank you for returning to us our shinobi."

With only a nod for acknowledgement from the leader of the leaf ninja present, they invited the group into the shade of their council chambers. They descended several steps down into a large antechamber. It was lit by windows and reflective panels along the walls.

Once gathered they settled to begin their discussion, of the traveling group only Jiraiya was invited to be seated.

It was clear to Naruto from the way Shino and Haku had quietly stood back to the wall that this was a discussion meant for the High ranking shinobi only.

The Suna three however, had crossed the room and stood against the far wall. Gaara had sat on the floor after the first few moments and began to doze. Following his lead the other two lowered themselves down beside him, much to the apparent irritation of several of the Suna jonin.

It was a long meeting, and it started with an introduction of the highest ranking members at the table. And continued with a debate of how long their stay would last. As well as deciding what matters they were going to attend to.

Once they had established the issues that would be settled, they moved onto integrating the Kazekage's children back into the village.

This began with Jiraiya explaining their treatment and giving a brief but thorough explanation of how he modified Gaara's seal.

Finally the council called upon the sand three to explain their point of view of their stay, and then one of the elders examined Gaara's modified seal.

Eventually it came their time to be addressed by the elders, as the one who had place the final word on most of the decisions approached them.

"We thank you, young shinobi, for the care you took of our village's weapon and for the return of our Kazekage's children. With your actions on their behalf, the progress towards peace will be much smoother."

Naruto stiffened with anger when they called him that. But there wasn't much he could do without causing another war or something.

He remembered the discussion with his team on how a peace negotiation could be affected merely by the attitude, of a single person present. He wasn't about to risk it.

0o0o0

Soon after that they were dismissed from the meeting, and while most of the Suna council and Jiraiya stayed to negotiate, they were escorted to a boarding house for guests. Having all their possessions sealed away by the Sannin, they had little to do there after receiving their key.

So they followed the Suna three to their old home, where Naruto's clones helped the two of them to pack

"ne, ne, Why do you guys have to move anyway?" Naruto asked.

And Kankuro, who had been waiting to complain, was interrupted before he could finish getting his first word out. "It is because our father was the Kazekage. He's only reason we were here to begin with. We were subject to assassination threats as the children of the Kazekage, but now….. Now we are simply Genin. And Genin don't usually stay in their own homes here"

Kankuro took this moment to continue speaking after Temari paused. "Most of our shinobi live in the military housing. Gaara might still get to live elsewhere but we would prefer to simply fade into the ranks, that way we won't have to deal with any backlash from the Kazekage's decisions."

They didn't really have that much, so it wasn't more than half an hour before they arrived at the barracks.

Again, Kankuro and Temari had to explain. "You see, the daimyo has made several funding cuts to our shinobi program, most of the Suna ninja can't afford apartments so they have the shinobi barracks"

"Not many Suna ninja even need a home. They just need a safe place to sleep or get out of a sand storm. The rest of their time is spent either on duty or entertaining themselves at a public location." Temari finished.

The barracks were made of six buildings and each of these had two sections. The first was the sleeping quarters for those who didn't need a place of their own.

They had stacked beds on one side; the beds were used by all of the shinobi, one ninja wakes up and another gets off shift. Of coarse this resulted in a bedding launder business as each new shift received fresh bedding.

And there were lockers on the other side for personal possessions. Once a Shinobi checked in they received a locker.

Then the second section was on the upper stories of the buildings, and held rooms. The rooms were for higher ranking shinobi. Most of the beds were only used by experienced Genin, Chunin, and fresh jonin, and the elite jonin either had apartments or they got a room in the upper barracks.

In fact the only shinobi that didn't stay here were either, the high of rank, the too fresh, those in a clan or those who had families. And many of those with families had a subsidized apartment.

The Suna three, were not listed to be staying in the sleeping quarters, instead they had been given one of the upper rooms so that they could keep Gaara out of the general public.

0o0o0

Later that afternoon, after the Suna three had been moved in, Gaara and Naruto went to the sweat baths. There were several public bath houses in the village, but each of the barracks' buildings had one attached for the shinobi staying there.

The outside of it looked like a normal stone room, but the insides were more like a giant bath tub. All the walls and floors were scoured smooth and benches had been carved into the walls. It was actually much larger than Naruto had been expecting. And in the center was an equally large pit.

Then there was the heat. As Naruto stepped in, it felt as if his entire skin were being squeezed, even with his weights off he now felt heavier than he had with them on.

The redhead motioned for him to sit and so he did, it wasn't long until the pressure eased off and the heat became relaxing. It was only after his body glistened with sweat and he had begun dozing off, that he wondered how _this_ was a bath?

Voicing his question, the relaxed blond was met with a confused stare. "Your sweat will cleanse you skin of dirt and sand."

"Right… but how does it wash the sweat off?"

"Why would it do that?" the redhead asked back.

And looking at Naruto's facial expression tried answering anyway

"Once your skin is cleansed, you dry off in the shade room with a cooled cloth?"

"Yeah, but then you would smell like sweat."

Gaara was unsure how to answer that. So instead he simply eased back on the bench until he was practically lying down. Naruto, realizing that smaller boy was thinking about this and unsure how it worked, simply dropped the question and enjoyed the peace.

He was just beginning to get restless when, to his embarrassment, the other two Suna siblings entered. However, while he and Gaara wore loincloths, the elder shinobi had entered nude. Temari at least _had_ held a towel over herself, but Kankuro wasn't so modest.

"Hey Naruto. It's good to be back home isn't it, little brother?" The teenage girl clothed in only a towel greeted them, and she sat right next to her youngest brother.

Nodding to his sister, Gaara sat up and added water to the pit.

Noticing Naruto's blush the unclad teen sat by him, leaned back, then in a whispered voice, he offered a slight warning.

"You know Naruto, this is no different than the mixed hot springs in your village. So unless you want my sister to hurt you for thinking weird things about her, you should probably get your blush under control."

At this point Gaara brought their earlier topic to discussion.

"Temari-Nii-chan, Naruto has never been to a sweat lodge, and I am unsure how too explain to him how sweating more makes you clean. Would you mind?"

Somehow, this seemed to distract the attention from Naruto even though it directed the attention towards him. After little longer they decided it was time to get out and cool off.

As they headed to the shade room, Temari noticed how flushed Naruto was and explained to Naruto that much like a hot spring staying in too long could make you over heat and that you couldn't drink anything cold for about twenty minutes afterwards so she gave him a warm water skin and had him sit in the shade room incase he became dizzy.

The entire time Naruto sat there and cooled he could only feel thankful they had entered before the other two.

After around ten minutes, Naruto had begun feeling a chill. And had to begin drying off, turns out that the cloth you dried with was dampened to wipe away the sweat and sand. Then the moisture from the cloth dried on its own.

"Well, now I understand why the heat here doesn't bother you. After that _bath _I'm actually feeling kind of cold."

This elicited a bark of laughter from the puppeteer. "Just you wait until nightfall. There is a reason we dress in layers here."

0o0o0

Night did fall and Naruto decided that his new found tolerance for the desert heat didn't help. He had wrapped himself in several blankets and was currently sitting at the edge of Gaara's bed. Shino and Kankuro had set up a shogi board on the other one in the room.

Gaara had been called back to the Suna council building and Temari had insisted on going with him. None of the three left there knew where Haku had disappeared to.

For a while Naruto simply let his mind wander. And naturally it eventually came back to the sight he'd seen in the sweat bath. Only this time it wasn't the blond kunoichi behind the towel… quickly rousing himself from thought, '_where did that come from!?' _Naruto accused himself.

Now paying attention he noticed the other two in the room were actually having an interesting conversation about the academy in the leaf village.

As it was explained, Suna didn't have an academy. They recruited you as a genin and you were taught by other older genin. If you lasted as a fresh genin you went on, if not, you were dropped out. And after you had been settled as a shinobi you moved in to the barracks and were taught by the general ranks.

If you were from a clan you were taught by them for the most part, but you still had to do missions and such with the other genin.

The ranking system was based on a food chain of seven links. There were three links in the genin rank; fresh, steady and high or experienced. There were two links for Chunin, high and low, and two for jonin, new and elite.

The fresh genin are told to arrive in time for easy training and procedure, then they go on no risk E-rank missions, lead in groups by experienced genin, who are waiting to become Chunin.

They are normally taught the basics around the village and learned as they go. This also gave the high genin a chance to lead a team and get used to giving orders.

The middle or steady genin are led by low Chunin. These are new Chunin and need to get used to the responsibilities of their rank. So they lead the genin on their first missions outside the village. D-rank missions that are meant for real genin and not just those learning how to be one.

High Chunin are led by low jonin on the real missions that involve definite danger. The majority of Suna's force was in this category, either high Chunin or low jonin. Although, they had heavy losses after the battle and most had been from this group as well.

The few elite jonin mostly took full danger missions like assassination or lead low jonin on higher danger missions than Chunin could handle. It was the best of _them_, which made up the jonin council, which was now leading village until the new Kazekage was chosen.

Using this ranking system no genin would ever go on a C+ Ranked mission and no Chunin would ever go on an A-ranked mission. It made absolutely sure that the shinobi assigned the mission could handle it. And because of that, their mission success rate was higher, however it also meant that their mission intake had decreased.

There were exceptions of course, such as the kazekage's children. They had been lead by Baki-Sensei from the start. And they had been on many high ranked missions because of it. He was in the elite group, although he wasn't a seat on the council, he probably would have been if he hadn't been assigned as their sensei.

Most of the exceptions were either clan or bloodline based.

Though there were few bloodlines in Suna, those they had were treated as trump cards, only sent out on missions that they were sure to handle. Meanwhile they were trained by low jonin instead of their peers. The result was that they became over kill for their missions as they spent most of their time training. And when they were actually needed they would be used to the fullest of their ability.

The clan shinobi, however, were trained by their own, and placed on missions the clan had been requested for. In most cases, the clan would receive a list of missions requested and then pick out which of their shinobi would be sent on which mission. However it wasn't uncommon for certain clan members to be permanently assigned by their clan to the village teams that they worked well with.

0o0o0

Morning came, and they found out where Haku had been. After the meeting was let out he had continued to follow Jiraiya, as he had not been given any other task, so he sought out something to do by remaining at the commanding officer's side.

It turned out the village were fans of more than the Sannin's skill in jutsu. He enjoyed the entire night in bars, signing autographs and drinking with fans. By the time Haku would have turned in, he decided to remain with the 'so called' sage, incase the old drunkard was too drunk to ward off foul play.

However, the others were more interested in the fact that he was allowed to sit in on much of the initial negotiations over the new peace treaty. Temari was especially eager to hear what had been discussed before her arrival, even as Kankuro merely asked her to brief him on the important stuff and fled out of boredom.

Haku had been readmitted into the meeting silently as it went on, and gave the leaf authority his room key and a silent message of a task completed. At which point he returned to the wall to await further instruction. It seemed that his Chunin rank was sufficient or that they wouldn't object to a leaf ninja the Sannin hadn't dismissed. For either reason, he was permitted to stay.

The negotiations over the treaty had already been started however they had only been itemizing what it should entail, and not coming to any decisions over how those items would be applied or to what degree they would change. Basically they were listing what they would have to discuss before actually discussing it.

This continued until Jiraiya brought up compensation for a death that happened before the actual invasion. Naturally, the Suna council had objected to a single casualty of war having an agenda of its own, and requested that it be added to the overall war compensation.

And that was where the Sage focused his anger at the speaking party.

"_This_ was _not_ a _casualty of war._ The shinobi referred to was killed weeks before the actual assault, while performing non-related duties. That makes his death murder. He left behind a betrothed wife, only a couple months from marriage!"

That seemed to be the deciding factor. The Suna elite, who had escorted them through the village, stepped forward and asked what the _widow's_ demands were. Many of the council looked at him in shock.

For a moment they argued amongst themselves, apparently the widow of the murdered was allowed to demand what type of punishment received within the village. It was normally only applied to civilians. Of course they hadn't been married yet and they still didn't agree that it was a murder. However this would take the issue off of the treaty entirely and leave it in the hands of a court if they didn't accept her currently made demands here.

Knowing all this already Jiraiya had grinned the moment the elite spoke. Sullenly the council returned their attention to the answer of the question, deciding to allow it.

"The woman has demanded the killer's public execution or a lethal kenjutsu dual with the killer. And as a stipulation to the dual, both of them will have their chakra sealed off for the duration of the fight."

Immediately the shinobi who had spoken confirmed the request for a dual. Stating that it was his matter to deal with and the council would best not interfere with the civil concerns of shinobi under his command.

Haku found it extremely odd that a shinobi not on the council was allowed to make such a statement, but when all of them seemed to regard said shinobi with a piteous look he decided to disregard the matter. Deciding it must have been someone related to the man.

After hearing this, Temari began to pale, and Haku recalled that she had addressed him as her sensei.

"By your reaction, may I asume that you know who one or all of the discussed parties were?"

"Yeah, I think I know who, and I'd like to hear about the rest of the meeting… but I need to … to process this for a moment."

Bowing his head to the retreating kunoichi, Haku told her to take what she needed, for he would remember the rest when next they spoke.

0o0o0

With the discussion over, Naruto had little to do with himself. So he decided to invent a new training schedule for Gaara. He thought on what Gaara lacked. Mostly, Gaara needed taijutsu, and probably a little kenjutsu. So Naruto would teach him how to throw kunai.

That decided, he asked Gaara to take him to one of the Suna training grounds. It seemed to him that even if the Ichibi's sand would protect Gaara, he needed to learn it. His beat down from Lee had been proof of that.

That had been the plan; However, as they headed to the training ground they were distracted onto something else. Naruto got tired of how they were getting glared at or avoided and Gaara seemed to be upset about it. At least Naruto thought he was. The kid had bottled up again.

It passed across Naruto's mind that Gaara had gone on about validating his existence when they first met. So he knew just the thing, to really get them to validate.

"Hey Gaara, I think we need to do something about these idiots. We can get to your training later, okay?"

The redhead looked up at him uncertain, "If we are going to do something to them couldn't we make that a form of training as well. I'm sure they would make great kunai targets"

Instant panic! "No! Gaara when the villagers refuse to see you, you don't just kill them. The dead don't see anything they don't want to. No, instead you do something that will make them see you and laugh in their faces when it works!"

Gaara was curious though his face was passive.

And that was how the great night of the sand pranks began. It started out with every shoe in the village getting sand in it, curtsey of Gaara lifting a layer of sand across the village to about ankle height and circulating it so that it got in the shoes. For about ten to twenty minutes this went on until as one it seemed, several groups of people had to stop to empty their shoes.

Gaara had never tried anything like this with his sand and it took a lot of chakra control before he could pull it off, they had practiced on clones for about an hour before doing it on a village scale.

Naruto had thought that would ruffle a few feathers, but it seemed to have no effect at all, they just worked through the sure blisters, emptied their shoes, and left.

So he had Gaara try to learn stealth and when he could keep from view of some clones walking around, they began the next step: Suddenly filling the main road with a wall of sand between two buildings.

This got many complaints, but they still went around it and ignored whoever had put it up. They all knew it was Gaara, but no body even told anyone other than to take a detour.

"Alright, Gaara, if that's the way they want it, let's take it up another notch. Operation road block part two, the road way maze! Begin! We'll have them shouting your name in no time!"

And so for the rest of the afternoon they made road blocks at random seeming spots. Many times they got a good shout of surprise or anger. But the fact that it was Gaara, was just ignored, even when he and Naruto couldn't help but laugh at the guy whose pack mule had sat on him in an attempt to get back from the wall that appeared out of nowhere.

The villagers just went on, at least until the walls started to connect. Once they set the connecting walls up the civilians were lost. Naruto had his clones scout the whole place and walk up buildings to make it as twisting as possible, and by evening they had formed a maze in the village. The people were now really mad, but they just went to their homes for the day, and any shinobi that passed forgot about the maze, they just blew the walls down or jumped over them.

As the sun fell low, Naruto was getting fed up. He would get a reaction from them, even if it meant asking Shino to help.

0o0o0

The next morning a young boy heard his mother giggle then shout at the wonder of it all. Running outside he saw green… everywhere there were these giant plants! Tall shafts of wood and leaves reaching up into the sky some were as tall as buildings.

Everybody began coming to see the forest that had grown over night. Many had even broken into hysterics wanting to know what these things meant, and how they got there. Those who had never been out of the village just stared in wonder as those who had felt tree's and smelled them did so again. To their great surprise the trees appeared to be real. Finally several of the Chunin began to cut the tree's down and the moment they were cut they burst in a spray of sand. Most blew the Chunin over, all of them getting sand in the eyes.

And by using his Daisan no Me or third eye jutsu, Gaara was able to see the villages reaction to finding out he was the one who created this, the reactions were all over the place.

Some held wonder and some became terrified of the sand trees, and others had actually just sat there and began laughing. As the day went on more and more people realized what they were and began wondering what Gaara was doing. Why would he create something like this?

Gaara was finally the main topic of discussion in the village. And the majority of the talk was good too.

Gaara had taken most of the night to learn how to make the sand look and feel like real trees. And when they had that, Naruto convinced Shino to have his kikaichu create the scent of trees and spread it around the village. This had taken him most of the night to create as well. But once he had it, dispersing it over the village was easy and so he also heavily scented the trees them selves.

Thus the three of them had made a forest over night.

0o0o0

"Lord Jiraiya!"

The shout was from one of the village council members. Said shinobi had been running all over the village looking for the great Sannin himself. And said Sannin had been sleeping off his stupor in a closed bar.

"Lord Jiraiya, There is an urgent matter the council requires you to aide with! It appears our weapon has taken some inexplicable actions against the village! We have been told that they were at the instruction of your container!"

Relaxing from the start at being told Gaara had taken actions; the sennin slapped a lazy grin on his face and stretched. Any actions that Naruto instructed would probably be funny ones, And more than worth his hangover.

"Please Jiraiya-sama, follow me quickly."

And so he did, leaving the empty bar to a sight of perplexing familiarity. The village was covered in trees… was _this_, what they were so upset about?

So they made their way across town. To see several walls forming a maze through out the village. Simply meandering down them would have been enjoyable to the old shinobi; however the frantic urgings of the Suna jonin had him quickly leaping the walls headed for the council chamber.

The rest of the council was already there and arguing about what these actions mean and if they had to respond. Most of them were panicking until one of them mentioned 'at least Gaara wasn't killing people,'

Then others, at the prompting of Jiraiya, began to come around.

It was relatively harmless when they made the walls, as they are short enough that any shinobi could easily jump and that means they didn't get in the way of anything important.

And the trees were actually getting more good reactions from the population than bad.

"Baki, you're the weapon's keeper what do you think it means?" The council looked to the elite for his answer anxiously.

"I believe this is what we have been _waiting_ for since the _Kazekage's greatest mistake_. Gaara is finally acting like a _normal child_." The distain that bled through his voice at the Kazekage's actions seemed to be shared by the council. As they all flash through looks of contempt.

Jiraiya choose now to help his little charge in getting Gaara recognition. "And guess what council members, that _child_ just wants attention, something this village doesn't give him." The Sannin looked at each of them one by one as his point settled in.

"Naruto, the one telling him to do this, was the exact same way as a kid. Our village ignored him and even hurt him, but he vented his anger and loneliness by causing disruptions around the village. There were never any harmful pranks and most were good for a laugh after they were cleaned up.

"This is the kid who, _before_ becoming a genin, painted our villages honored Hokage monument without anybody noticing until it was done! Then he managed to evade the Anbu for almost an hour before his sensei finally caught him."

"His sensei, you mean the kunoichi?"

"No, before that. The one from the academy. He was Naruto's closest person as a child. He saw Naruto like a little brother, so he understood how Naruto-"

"Wait! That's it!" One of them interrupted "We just need to have Gaara's closest person handle it. His evaluation stated he was highly influenced by his elder sister. Let us call in Temari, and have her try to settle him down."

0o0o0

After awhile Kankuro found them. And to his surprise his little brother was on what appeared to be cloud nine for him. He reviled in the attention of his existence. It didn't matter that they still avoided him; he was the topic of discussion all over the village.

They decided to go walking the streets and enjoy the attention in person. As they did, they discussed what Gaara was going to do from now on. The fact was that Gaara needed to learn how to treat others. He had never been able to socialize before and he would have to soon.

This happened sooner then Kankuro had said as they met a young child less than 10 minutes after he said it. The child came over to them with a great big smile and told Gaara that this morning had been the best ever.

"I'm glad you found it so amusing little girl, we have plent-"

"I'm a boy you makeup wearing transvestite! Asshole!

"Ne, ne, Kankuro, what was that you said about learning how to socailize?" Naruto tried his best not to laugh as the kid continued to cuss at Gaara's older sibling.

The raccoon-like boy himself missed the humor in his confusion. "I don't see why you think he is a girl?"

"Because he's pretty!" Kankuro replied defensively, and then shouted in pain as the boy kicked his leg.

"So... Haku is also what you called pretty and he's a boy, is it uncommon for boys to be pretty?"

Not wanting to risk another injury Kankuro asked the boy what his favorite of the pranks were.

"Well I really loved running through the walls you built. It was _soo_ easy to get lost. But I think my favorite part was this morning. I never saw Kaasan so happy, she's never seen a tree because we aren't allowed out of the village. The Kazekage didn't want our bloodline to be risked. She's always dreamed of living in a forest though."

Neither Naruto nor Gaara had thought anyone would react to it like that.

And Naruto was just as stunned that some of them had never left the village. Kankuro told him that lots of their people had never been out of the village. It was just a way to keep them safe. And that this girl and her mother were a good example of that. Only to get hit by a glass kunai repeatedly!

The boy told them his name was Kireimaru, it meant pretty boy. And he hated it. He hated being his mothers beautiful little boy.

After Gaara had shown Kireimaru a few tricks with his sand, like lifting them all off the ground and over the walls, he show them how his glass jutsu worked. His bloodline was a mix of earth and fire, allowing him to create glass using sand and chakra. He made a glass kunai that was strong enough to use as a practices kunai but was so smooth that it literally couldn't draw blood.

He had a special standing in the village do to the wealth the Kazekage had given his mom. It seemed that his mother had become barren after he was born and that she should have had more children after him. Since she couldn't, he was not allowed to become a shinobi. Or their bloodline could be lost. Instead him mom spent hours each day training him, they had their own home and his mom usually never let him out of her sight.

Seeing plenty of potential they incorporated him into the pranks too. By having him make a large glass window and place it in front of the playroom door just before the kids got out and tried to run though the door for all they were worth. SMACK! And he would make his glass on the floor so they would slip and fall. It was extremely funny seeing this work when Baki had tried to catch them and went sailing into an overly endowed street girl. He had been chasing them since around noon that day, after they revealed that they had carved Jiraiya's face, a bowl of ramen, and an hour glass in to one side of the protective wall.

After that they had him make as many marbles as he could and dumped them on the other side of a few walls and when a pursuing shinobi jumped them they landed on said marbles only to slip and go flying.

However it came to an end when Kireimaru's mother arrived. But instead of being afraid of Gaara she turned his sand into a glass box and told him off,

"If you're just going to cause trouble for the village, like a little child; then you will have to be treated like one. I enjoyed the display this morning but using my darling son for your destructive behavior is not something I can forgive! If you ever involve my precious boy like this again, I will lock you in a glass time out for a week! Understand!? Now you may come out of there when your sister gets here. And not a moment earlier!"

Seeing how this woman was acting Gaara looked back at what had been bothering him, how to act around those he cared for. Was this how all mothers acted, what would he need to do to show he cared about Temari nii-chan and Kankuro-aniki?

It didn't take too long for Temari to arrive. When she did she thanked the lady and Gaara was released into her care.

Naruto on the other hand had to listen to the lady yell at him until Shino came to get him. Which wasn't until Kankuro had found and explained everything to him.

0o0o0

That night they all received a treat. The eldest of the group herself had decided to cook dinner for them. During their stay so far they had eaten out, it was rare for shinobi to cook their own meals in the sand. This was because most didn't have the right tools like a stove or ingredients. This setup also helped the village economy. And most places gave the ninja discounts.

That's why Temari showing off her cooking skills was a treat. It wasn't a field meal like all the shinobi could make from hunting it was an actual home cooked multi-course meal. They all sat at a table waiting for the food to be served. Gaara sat at the head of the table and Naruto sitting on one side. Naruto was almost to the point of drooling at the scent. Temari was placed to sit across from Naruto. And Shino and Haku had the next two seats before Kankuro at the end of the table.

Finally the much awaited blonde entered carrying a large serving platter in one hand and a rice pot with a handled lid in the other. The food was served and dinner conversation started. Naruto and Gaara enjoyed telling Temari about their pranks. For Gaara it was the first time he had been able to enjoy a conversation over a meal. And for Naruto it was the first time anybody had actually laughed about a prank story with out a lecture following. Temari had a major fit of giggles at Gaara's enthusiastic description of Baki-sensei apologizing and being forced into a date, although it seemed she was the only one who realized what he was being force into, the pranksters thought he was just paying for a poor girl's next meal.

It was a very good night. But not perfect. About half way through the meal Naruto decided to tell Temari how much he enjoyed the meal. And it didn't come out quite the way he meant. He told her he was surprised that such a brawny girl would be able to cook such delicious food. He meant it as a compliment on the good taste, but she decided to focus more on the part where he was surprised, meaning he had thought she couldn't. After hitting him and glaring, she also mumbled something about not being thick, whatever that meant.

Haku also told the rest of his observations from the initial negotiations. And everybody noted that the old sage was still in a meeting now.

It wasn't long after things settled that they took another nosedive, when Kankuro tried to use a copy of icha-icha to explain why girls were pretty. The result being a massive shouting match, about what is allowed at the dinner table. This ended when Gaara took his sister's side and put Kankuro in time out.

Naruto thought that was funnier than the pranks. And nearly choked on his food as he watched the sand form a little cage to hold the pervert in.

0o0o0

The next day began with a morning jog. And a tour of Suna's training grounds.

It was just him and Gaara again. Temari and Kankuro had both been placed back on duty. And it was only Jiraiya's insistence that Gaara would be learning most from Naruto that Gaara wasn't on duty as well.

Naruto didn't consider himself teacher material but he did know how to impersonate one. And so he had Gaara run through the kata's he'd shown him on the trip to suna. After that he had Gaara go through one of Gai-sensei's warm-up routines. And then they ran another lap around the village. Now suitably exercised, the duo made their way to the target field.

Gaara was able to hit all the targets with his sand, and most of them when his sand threw the kunai. However, when Gaara himself tried, the results were disappointing. His aim was good but the throw was way too short. He simply didn't have the muscles in his arms toned for throwing.

Naruto decided that Gaara could train that over time. And they moved on to using a kunai in battle. And since the sand shielding prevented them from working on defense, Naruto had him attack. After a quick spar, Naruto showed Gaara all of the kata's with kunai he knew. And as when he had learned them. He had Gaara repeat them as he corrected stance and form, then repeat them correctly several more times to ingrain them into memory.

0o0o0

The day came and went, and was over for the two when Temari arrived to usher them home. On the way they stopped to pick up food for dinner. And then Temari took them off the route towards the barracks. When asked about it she said there was someone she thought Naruto would like to meet. They walked through the village and into the civilian living section. Stopping at one of the houses Temari pulled a book out of her tool pouch and handed it to Naruto. Much to his surprise it was one of the books he had brought. More specifically the one Hinata had read to him the night before the mission.

The home they were currently in front of was none other than the author who wrote the book, Akachiri Basho. It was an autobiography meaning he was man who had been lost in the dessert. He was originally a stone civilian, and as a kid he moved to Suna with his dad after his mother had died, that was just after the war had ended. The book told about him sneaking into his dad's merchant wagon and getting lost having followed him out.

Temari walked up to the house and knocked. Almost immediately the man opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. After a couple short introductions Temari got him to autograph the copy his book Hinata had loaned Naruto. After which, they were incited in and he told them more about his time out there. Including what had happened to the rock he'd befriended. The kunoichi had to ask why he'd named it Sasori, he said he didn't know. It was just a name he'd heard shortly after arriving in Suna. He didn't even know who it was until after he'd been found.

Unfortunately their stay was cut short as Akachiri-san said he had begun to feel ill and had to lie down. He told them it was just a headache. And that he'd be more than happy to talk to them the next day.

0o0o0

Early to bed, early to rise, and at sunrise another day of training began for the two jinchuriki. It started out much the same as yesterday, but with a slight order change. As this time Gaara knew the warm up beforehand, they did that before doubling the running of the previous day. This was followed by all the kata Gaara had learned, and more target practice, rather throwing practice. They had worked so well today that they'd finished everything well before noon. And that left them to decide what else they wanted to train.

Gaara needed to work on defense. So he began creating a harder Suna no Yoroi. The sand armor he wears over his skin was only so strong, no matter how much he hardened it. But with a little work he had begun converting parts of it into a stronger stone armor.

Naturally this couldn't be done over his whole body. But creating small stones that fit together over his vital organs and chest was doable with out losing any movement, of course these stones had to be held on by his sand but he was also able to quickly repair the stones when they were damaged.

A quick spar between the two revealed that. And it also led them to attempting an increased speed sand shield. With his weights off Naruto had very little trouble evading the sand's protective barrier. This might have helped in taijutsu except for the fact that Gaara wasn't even able to see him move at that speed.

Deciding they needed a break, Naruto sat down and tried to get the Rasengan to work. He knew he couldn't do it until he could somehow suppress the kyuubi's chakra. So he focused on simply gathering filtered chakra. It wasn't that hard to do, but he still couldn't do it _and _create the Rasengan. It was like trying to look left and right at the same time. He simple couldn't do it.

So after an hour of concentration and a late lunch, he and Gaara began talking about the differences in their demons. Gaara told him about the sand form of his mother that he'd spoken to so many times and Naruto told him about the basement room he'd woken up in, when he first spoke to the Kyuubi.

0o0o0

The blond Chunin did eventually spend some time dealing with the politics of the village. He had been summoned to evaluate his opinion on Gaara's stability. And after giving his testimony he stayed in the meeting at the bribery of the mission leader. And he even managed to stay wake for some of it. No wonder Kurenai had warned him to stay out of it. He had thought it would be useful for a Hokage. And the promise of another discussion over using his tenant's chakra was enticing. But they were debating trade prices and it was impossible to stay awake for.

Unknown to him a man had been watching him sleep and his eyes seem to be awake for the first time in years, he remembered his mother's death in the war, he also remembered the year of training he'd gone through to survive. Those skills hadn't vanished; they had simply lost their focus as the year pasted. No he stood his proud and angry self, as he recognized the child of the one who had taken his mothers life along with so many others. He would kill the bastard child. And he would use the demon child to do it.

0o0o0

That afternoon Jiraiya left the negotiation early. They all needed a good break after all and he hadn't even sampled the sweat baths yet. Thus the sage was found in the shade room giving Naruto and Gaara a lecture on how seals worked. Once Naruto understood it, he was brilliant, and for once Gaara proved better at something than his blond counterpart. Though he lacked the brilliance Naruto had, he had grasped the idea's of it instantly. And displayed an understanding of the finer details as the lecture continued. Naturally Jiraiya had to take notes on the ideas the two of them came up with. And working things out together they came up with plenty of great ideas. Many that the fuinjutsu master decided to work on himself.

The lecture and discussions continued on into the night, and eventually shifted to the promised talk about using one's demon chakra. Gaara was already used to drawing out his demons chakra, but didn't want to risk letting the demon take over again by doing so. And Naruto was told about how to enter the seal as he had in the exams. It could be done in several ways, injury, fear of death, and meditation in the top. And so Naruto decided he would try calling up some of the Kyuubi's chakra the next day.

0o0o0

A small dot appeared in view and drew closer quickly. Shino reached a finger out for the kikaichu to perch. He had needed to stay informed on his teammates' locations, but when Naruto had decided to try using his _other_ chakra he decided it was almost certainly a bad concept to have his allies near the vicinity of that particular training ground.

Taking stock of the mission so far Shino realized how unnecessary he was on this particular mission.

They left the village thirteen days ago and during the trip he had done little training and had only scouted ahead with his allies while they were in the land of fire. That was understandable.

However they had been in the village for seven days and he had yet to perform any duties of the mission. After the initial greeting and introductions, he hadn't been summoned back to the council chamber. He had requested a chance to observe but was summarily denied. Having little to do in the category of training with his allies, with the exception of the night spent growing a forest out of sand, the solemn and bluntly… _bored_ genin instead performed his routine kata's and trained his mind.

Going so far as to simply walk through the village and try to estimate who was speaking about who. He was slightly surprised that most of the tree's had been kept up after that night, and the next day of pranks was not unnoticed either, once the villagers had begun talking about Gaara they didn't stop, and every prank he pulled afterwards was discussed.

It was not unsuccessful but it didn't progress him either. He had heard several tidbits about the leaf party. Though most of what he learned of the Sannin was undesirable. He also learned much about the village's views of Temari.

Since their arrival in Suna, many of the shinobi were shocked at how the "Bitch of Suna" was acting. According to them, Temari was one of the hardest kunoichi in the village, even jonin were afraid of her. And likely would let her call the shots if they didn't have rank. This wasn't so much because she was frightening, but rather because she was actively standing up to Gaara. And it was only added to by the ruthlessness with which she dealt any threat to her or her brothers or any hint of sexism.

So when they saw her treating Gaara like she had for the past month they were puzzled to say the least. Shino even heard many results of romantic requests. The first few had confused her, but after she realized what they meant, she just ignored most of them.

Shino was astonished to hear some of the theories over her change. Most of the Chunin believed she had gotten laid over the time she was a captive. Others had suggested it was a more incest related reason. There was also speculation on a rumor that the council of jonin had decided to name _her_ the next Kazekage and was now simply choosing who would hold the spot until she was coronated.

0o0o0

The man walked slowly to the council chambers and swiftly crossed to an entrance of another building. Going down into the depths he found a place where the wall wasn't made of the same stone as the rest, and using his master's instructions, he opened it.

It was time for the bastard child to die. He had waited long enough after waking. _Those two_ were finally here. It had taken them long enough. He had signaled his ready days ago, after that bastards child visited him.

Placing the supplies he'd received he focused, the tags were not like any exploding tags he had seen before. These ones required a specific set of seals to go off, and more, they wouldn't just blowup. The smoke from the explosion would be toxic to anyone who breathed it in.

0o0o0

Gaara had just entered the council chamber, they were waiting for him. They needed to evaluate whether or not he could be placed on duty again. Yesterdays testimony from the leaf's weapon left them confident.

They were still wary and still on edge, half expecting to have to fight today. They were right, but not about whom they would have to fight.

The blast brought the building down around them, and it was only Gaara's sand that saved them.

* * *

-Note-

Yes things are going to be different between leaf and sand than they were in cannon. But that is mainly because Jiraiya is here to over see things. And the dual mentioned earlier is between Baki and the wife of an anbu who died when Hayate did in the anime, as he didn't it can just be assumed that another anbu did.. Temari paled because she thought it was someone Gaara had killed.

... thank you, **archsage328**.

The glares they received were mostly from grown men and shinobi. They weren't all directed at Gaara either.

The structures of the village that I mentioned (such as the ranking system and the housing) were set up so as to make it as efficient as possible with what little funding they had.

And as for bloodlines, it is hard to imagine that they wouldn't have any, but the one I focused on isn't that hard to believe. As for why it was so important, well you read what Kireimaru's mom did. She was able to turn demon sand into glass. But of course she was never used before because the Yondaime Kazekage took care of Gaara's rampages.

Akachiri means red dust and Basho means place or site, the place of red dust sounded just right.

Akachiri had befriended a rock named Sasori, What did Sasori of the red sand do to Kabuto? And is it unlikely that he'd do it to others? Including ninja from stone?


End file.
